Undercover
by TeaAndGlee
Summary: She had no idea what she was getting herself into. The layers of Adam Foster were impassable and boundless, frighteningly enticing - and soon, she would find the danger that lay behind each and every one of them.
1. Chapter 1

**Back with a vengeance…**

 **This fic takes place a few months after the season finale, but pretending that Karolsen and Cat's job offer never existed. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _Okay, so what I think was fate, you think is an accident?"_

Kara sighed, landing in an alleyway just across the street from Noonan's. The memories still seemed unchanged from months ago. Pristine. It was bizarre how they played over in such clarity – perhaps it was only the apprehension of seeing him again that had made them appear so clear; perhaps out of sheer nervousness, she had remembered them.

" _If I have learned anything from the past few weeks… if I don't have room in my life for a great guy like you, maybe I don't have room for anyone. I don't know if that makes you feel any better…"_

She bit her lip, brushing down her outfit: a white blouse, a pastel blue cardigan and a skirt of the same hue. She walked out of the alley with one set of fingers curling around her bag, the others shaking at her sides. She could catch bullets with her bare hands, shoot lasers out of her eyes, and yet she could not handle confrontation – especially when the man she was confronting was probably not very happy that she "broke his heart", in her boss' words. It was all too complicated for her to keep walking across the street, and yet she knew she had to persist.

" _Not really. I thought this wasn't gonna work because of my issues; my baggage… and I'd be the one to chicken out."_

She almost shuddered, even though it was summer in National City, with only the slightest breeze flowing through the trees and whispering through her ears. The blue-eyed woman had no idea why he even wanted to see her; why he had suddenly returned from Opal City, completely out of the blue. Did he hate her? Did he understand their faults? Too many questions were swirling in her mind for those ever-complicated two to be added and fussed over, so she attempted to silence all the voices and focus instead on her feet hitting the pavement.

" _I'm sorry."_

The blonde had almost finished playing out everything in her memory, all the refined details and specifics that she had been running away from since then – how her lips quivered, how his brows raised, then furrowed. She never wanted to relive them, and she never needed to. Besides, she had bigger things to be dwelling on nowadays – continuous blackmail from Maxwell Lord (now that he had helped her save the universe, he wanted something in return) – or the new threats across National City. Yet, she shut her eyes for a moment and walked slower as she remembered all that had happened that night.

" _I know you are."_

Finally, she took control of her hand and used it to push through the glass door of the café, looking around as she nervously nibbled on her lower lip to scan for signs of him. When she finally spotted him, he was looking at her across the room, his eyes weaving through other people and the heavy scent of coffee to get to her. He stood up and nodded at her awkwardly – Kara assumed that was her invitation to move over to him, and finally forced her rigid, shell-shocked body over. She began smiling politely, awkwardly, obligatorily, meeting him at two leather seats and a coffee table. As subtly as possible, Kara was trying to read him, and was hoping he didn't want to start things up again. She couldn't even give him half of the attention he deserved while living this exasperating double-life. "Adam, hi."

"Hey, it's good to see you." He reciprocated, but did not make any movements to touch her – not a handshake, not a hug – just a gesture for her to sit. They did so, and as Kara made herself comfortable in her seat, she noticed he had already gotten her order – spiced pumpkin with extra foam and cinnamon. She peered over to his side of the table, noticing Adam's medium-sized Americano, and peered back up at him. He sensed her expression. "I hope this isn't too forward, I just have somewhere I need to be later, but I really needed to see you first."

"Oh! No, no it's fine. Thank you. I will… I'll pay you back later. Thank you." She spoke, flustered, and picked up the coffee cup. "So, uh… welcome back!"

He raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Y-yeah, I guess so, huh?"

The blonde broke away from her cup, licking her lips. "I'd hate for you to take this the wrong way, but… what brought you back to National City?"

"Uh… unfinished business, I guess." The boy answered, raking a hand through the short chestnut hair at the back of his head.

She lifted her head from her coffee cup at his reply, blue doe-eyes widening in interest. "With your mom?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I didn't want to leave this new life behind, you know? Besides, it is _way_ more interesting here than Opal City ever was." He chuckled, but silence seemed impatient with their conversation and it finally wanted to have a say. Finally, Adam spoke again, interrupting the quiet that had filled the conversation while they sipped on their coffee. "Um… listen, I was kind of surprised you came. I don't know, I just thought… well, I just wanted to make sure there weren't any hard feelings. I totally get why things didn't work out. From the looks of it, I might be staying here for a while… permanently, even… and I'll probably be visiting my mom a lot. I guess I just didn't want things to be awkward."

Kara blushed, resting her coffee on her lap as she looked at the brunette boy before her. "No, no... Seriously- I… of course not, Adam. I wouldn't want things to be awkward either. It's great to have you back, and… I'm glad you're here. And I'm sure Cat is too." She gave him a tight-lipped smile as he reciprocated the gesture.

"Well… good. I'm glad."

Kara breathed out a sigh of nervous relief, looking down at her coffee cup, using her index finger to trace around the rim, giving her something to do with her anxious hands. She lifted her head up at him, noticing how he had been looking at her actions as the silence persisted. "So, uh… are you excited to meet your brother? Cat told me you didn't get a chance to meet the last time you were here."

They talked for minutes about Carter, Cat and the city. Kara was grateful for the lack of silence, but she began to feel discomfort in seeing the man she had hurt. Before she knew it, she was butting in the conversation as a short silence finally made itself known. "Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened. Like, between us, I mean. I really do feel bad about it and if you don't like me or whatever, I totally understand. I just... I feel terrible, seriously-"

He leaned forward in his seat and looked at her sincerely, as if he had been expecting her flustered apology sooner or later. "Kara, honestly, it's fine. I forgive you. Really." He looked down into his Americano, which was an inch from being finished. Kara couldn't help but mistake that as a give-away that he was still somewhat hurt.

She was about to say something else when she felt her phone buzz in her purse and, quickly putting her cup down on the table and fishing it out, notified it as Alex. "I- sorry, I have to take this." She pressed the 'accept' button and moved the device to her ear, greeting her sister but groaning almost instantly when Alex simply voiced the issue and the name "Maxwell Lord" found its way in between her words. Rolling her eyes, Kara mumbled a simple "I'm on my way" before hanging up. She turned to face Adam, who had been occupying the time by looking at the TV screen near them. Hurriedly collecting her things together, she began spluttering another apology. "This is so typical of me, God… I'm so sorry, I have to go…"

"Hey, no- it's fine. I should probably attend to my own business anyway." Adam nodded, downing the last of his coffee before the two of them parted ways in a hurry.

* * *

As usual, when landing at Lord Technologies, Maxwell Lord himself had just requested a "chat" with Supergirl, welcoming her into his office and offering her a seat in front of his desk, which Kara found herself accepting cautiously. Maxwell took the seat opposite her, his usual smug grin plastered across his face as he rested his feet on the desk, the mahogany structure acting as the only distance between them. "You know, _Supergirl,_ I've been thinking a lot more about that speech you made to the brainwashed minions of the universe that fateful night. Pretty inspirational, if I'm honest. I didn't know you had it in you."

Supergirl raised an eyebrow in disbelief at his compliment. "What do you want?"

"Well… I guess it just got me thinking. Your speech was all about hope, right? So I've decided to make an active effort to become more hopeful. All thanks to you." He gleamed. "So, I was _hoping_ if you could give me something in return, considering that if it wasn't for me, no one would be alive right now. I think that's the least I deserve, don't you?"

"Well, that would depend on what exactly you want, Mr. Lord." Supergirl crossed her arms, reclining in her seat. "But I hope you can understand my slight hesitation to trust you, after spying on my life and trying to kill me… twice."

"I have learnt my lesson." The businessman raised his hands in defence, tilting forward as he took his feet off the table and leaned over to answer his office phone as it buzzed, pressing the speaker button. "Talk to me." And so a muffled voice replied, needing to discuss business concerning new mechanics. Max looked to Kara, who was just watching the exchange. "Of course. Come in, you aren't interrupting."

Kara fought the urge to roll her eyes at the man – even if she always tried to be a positive person, the man before her had a special way to get under her bulletproof skin. She heard a man behind her come into the office, and he began speaking as though he was reading off words. "We are out of supplies for the new compartment for your newest mechanic innovation. I was just asking whether we should order more, or whether you are considering a compromise."

The voice seemed somehow familiar and, finally giving into curiosity, Kara found blue eyes peering at the man in the lab coat. He read off a tablet, then lifted his head up to Max. He glossed over the sight of Supergirl, but she could not gloss over the sight of him. Adam. Donned in a pristinely white lab coat with a Lord Technologies logo stamped on the breast pocket.

She felt her cheeks turning red and instantly spun back forward, hiding her increasingly flustered face behind strands of golden hair. She bit her lip. It couldn't be happening. Of course, she didn't know Adam well enough to learn of his hobbies; his occupation… but she never expected _this_. He worked for someone who had tried to kill her and, despite any help he had given her, he had an underlying devilish tone behind every word he spoke. Surely Adam was not associated with him? Surely it was all some kind of mix-up? She squeezed her eyes shut in the hopes she could zap herself out of the room somehow or reverse the events that had unfolded, but alas, it wasn't one of her many superhuman abilities. She tried to remind herself that Adam didn't know Supergirl; that he had only glanced at her briefly anyway, looking at her the same way Maxwell did. He had no idea of the density behind her presence. Still, even with all of these things persisting in her mind, the concept of it all had shaken her long after he had left and Maxwell had continued with his blackmailing monologue.

* * *

Later that evening, Kara was lounging on the couch in her apartment, sharing a blanket with Alex as the two watched an episode of _Friends_ – this is how they had remained for 2 hours now, and the remnants of 5 cartons of Ben and Jerry's ice cream on the coffee table proved this (only one of which had been eaten by Alex). Kara was working on her 5th. Usually, surrounded by ice cream and blankets had left Kara blissful after a busy day, but that evening, Alex noted a change in her sister, made obvious by her furrowed brow looking down at her ice cream and up towards the screen. "You've been acting kind of down tonight, what's up?"

Kara pouted into her cookie dough ice cream. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Alex chuckled. "Okay, since when? I'm your _sister_ , Kara." When Kara's pout only increased, her older sister sang. "Pleaaaase?"

Kara huffed. "I saw Adam today."

Alex's teasing smile faltered, then dropped completely. "Oh… how?"

"Well, first he invited me to Noonan's for coffee. It was a little awkward… but nice. You know, we brushed over any hard feelings." The girl sighed, playing with her spoon and scraping it against the cardboard of the ice cream container. "But then… when I went to Lord Technologies… he was there. He works there. I just… I can't believe he actually _works_ for that man."

Alex exhaled through her nostrils, looking down, but words did not escape from her mouth in a rush of support and optimism the way they always did.

Kara filled the silence. "I mean, it's not like I… you know… _like_ Adam or anything… just… Maxwell Lord makes my skin crawl. It's always blackmail, and sarcasm, and I just thought I pinned Adam down as a good guy. But now, like… what if he's not?"

Alex brushed past the density of her query and mumbled. "I'm sure he's a good guy."

The younger woman raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"I just… I think you're looking too much into it. Besides, you probably won't see Adam much anyway. His life doesn't really affect you. Just don't sweat it." Her sister persisted, although it all seemed miscellaneous and blunt somehow. Kara wasn't used to the nature of Alex's words.

The blonde's eyebrows practically interweaved in frustration as she put down her ice cream. "Okay, what's going on? I'm literally telling you that the guy I was heartbroken over for days miraculously comes back to National City and I found out today that he _also_ just happens to work for the man who spied on you and tried to kill me, and you're more concerned about an episode of _Friends_ that you've seen 20 times. Doesn't that seem even a little odd to you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. But please, just try to forget about Adam. I'm sure everything's fine." Alex tried to mend the situation, but her words still offered no remorse and little productive advice. Kara huffed, realising that this was all she would get out of her sister tonight, and couldn't help but wonder why all of a sudden Alex seemed so distant. Still, after such a surreal day, she could not muster any intent to argue, so instead retrieved her ice cream and focused any negative energy into finishing it before it melted.

* * *

The rush of yesterday persisted in Kara's mind, and it was growing tiring already as she flew into the DEO base centre the next morning, her thoughts swirling like the wind. She landed and groaned at the thought of seeing her sister, wondering if she would be the same blunt and guarded character she had been last night. In all honestly, Kara hated being mad at her sister – but it was obvious she was being lied to, and from Alex, she had expected more. They were sisters, and told each other everything now – even in dire situations. According to Alex, though, this was not a dire situation and could obviously wait, and to say that Kara was a little irritated at the lack of interest was an understatement. So, when Kara walked into the entrance of the base to be greeted by her sister almost immediately, she was not overjoyed as usual. "Alex, not now. Let's just see what my assignment is today." With that, the girl whisked past her with a flash of red, heading towards the centre of the grounds, where Hank was.

Alex followed quickly, trying to get in front of her and stop her furious pacing. "You don't have an assignment."

Kara stopped, deflated. "Then why am I here?"

The brunette before her exhaled heavily, placing her hands on Kara's arms in comfort. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before, it was just too risky. Please don't be mad."

Before Kara had time to answer, Hank was striding over to the siblings with a man in tow. "Supergirl, allow me to introduce a new member of the DEO who was relocated to our National City base. He works undercover. Agent Foster?"

There, donned in entirely black gear like the rest of them, emerged Adam, who smiled politely and reached to shake Kara's hand. The blonde girl stared wide-eyed in complete shock and disbelief, her hand growing limp at the sight of him. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He looked at her fully.

She continued to gawk at the man before her, some of the cogs finally turning in her brain. "H-Hi." She breathed, finally forcing herself to reply, raising an eyebrow as he shook her deadened hand. "You were at Lord Technologies earlier?"

Director Henshaw offered an explanation, confirming what Kara had already worked out. "Agent Foster works undercover there, helping us deem Lord Technologies' next move and the intentions of Mr. Lord."

"Oh…" Kara exhaled, still staring at Adam in astonishment. She finally bit down on her gormless expression and let go of his hand, not able to stutter out anything else, just watching him look at her. She fumbled with the fabric of her sleeve that tied in between her right thumb and index finger, listening to Hank and Alex brief him about the DEO's relationship with Supergirl and the history behind their work at the base. They all turned to echoes around her; white noise as her brain finally cleared for the first time since Adam had asked her out to coffee. He was standing in front of her now, looking strangely like himself in an area which Kara was convinced he didn't belong in. He had so many secrets; so many layers and now, like a curious child, Kara Danvers found herself peeling them back, one by one, discovering new realms of this man she had honestly only briefly encountered. She nibbled on her lower lip and felt eyes on her. She was uncomfortable and flustered under his curious gaze, yet marooned.

She vaguely heard Alex mumbling about discussing business further in her office, and was secretly grateful – her sister must have sensed her discomfort, and that her clear mind was now once again filling with an unlimited, infinite amount of questions. Kara acted on the opportunity of silence now that her sister and Adam had gone, and followed Hank across the grounds. "Why is he here? And since when was he a DEO agent? Wh… Why didn't anyone tell me? Does he know my identity yet?"

Finally, Hank turned around, exasperated by the pace of queries and decided to begin answering them before the girl's panicked tone gave him a headache. "Agent Foster has been training in our program since the age of 19, Miss Danvers. He trained in Opal City until his course found its way here."

"But… Adam went to Cornell University…" Kara furrowed her brows, looking down from his gaze.

"Actually, he didn't. Agent Foster has been training in our facilities, but since we are an extranormal, _secret_ force, he had to come up with a lie." The man began walking again as Kara remained, trailing behind. "Didn't _you_ , Miss Danvers?"

"But… he's been hiding this for 5 years?"

"Haven't you hid a secret for longer?"

Kara shrugged. "Yeah, but… I had to."

"And so did he. And Alex, until recently when she told you. And me, for even longer than you have, Kara. We couldn't tell you he was involved with our force for the same reasons."

"Protection." She said in realisation.

"Precisely." He turned around finally as they arrived at the circular table in the centre of the grounds. "And to answer your final interrogation, for various reasons I have to tell him your identity. And I haven't yet, but after Alex has briefed him, I have to. Now, I know nothing of what has happened between you and Agent Foster, but if you can deal with your sister being at the frontline, I can only assume that his being here will pose even less of an issue. Don't disappoint me, Miss Danvers."

As Hank walked away, Kara rested her palms on the circular table in the centre, trying to avert some of the weight that had been thrown onto her over the last five minutes onto the object. She sighed, and looked over through glass into Alex's office, where Adam stood, discussing things with her sister. She looked over and down before he had the chance to glance at her.

After minutes of stress and slow comprehension that felt like hours to the blue-eyed woman, Alex finally left the glass walls of her office and began to take apprehensive steps over to Kara. The blonde was actually relieved, even if seconds before she had been agitated by her sister – now she could understand why everything was so blurred last night. "You owe me so many donuts after this." Kara huffed, causing Alex's mouth to tease up at the corners without hesitation.

"You bet. But I have to go and run an errand with Hank right now… so… Adam will be doing your training session." She informed her sister surreptitiously, unsurprised when her reaction was less than thrilled. Kara had definitely been thrown in the deep end with all of this new information, and the brunette felt guilty now that she would have to be confronted so early on.

Kara raised her eyebrows in shock, then deflated further onto the table, breathing a sarcastic "great" across the surface of the table. With another rushed apology, Alex was gone, leaving Kara's eyes to wander timidly to where Adam was standing, looking at her. Hank must have told him everything by now, but she couldn't read the look on his face well enough to see how he had taken it; the lines on his forehead and the way his lower lip jutted out the tiniest bit could not determine whether he loved or hated her yet. Finally spinning around from her wilting position on the table, she clenched her jaw in discomfort and plucked up the courage to get to her feet, walking over to the man who had so much complexity, it made the Girl of Steel go dizzy in miscomprehension.

* * *

 **Just a heads up: this story is going to be a lot shorter than my other ones (or so I have planned). I used to write chapters with 3-11k words, and honestly, it got me so tired out. Back then, it worked because I was so passionate about writing, and you could say that passion has faded. I so want to be passionate about writing again, but for now, I'll regain that passion by writing in short spurts. Plus, it will probably be easier, considering next month I'll be starting sixth form (that's "junior year" at high school for you 'Muricans), and probably won't have much time to write at length anyway!**

 **Please feel welcome to leave a review (it would absolutely make my day) and follow/favourite if you so desire :)**

 **-Beth/jennoists xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Back again! I thought I'd return to writing since I'm in a very good mood after my good GCSE results! And… you know… the fact that Melissa liked my tweet or whatever…**

* * *

As Kara walked surreptitiously over to the man, the dark surroundings of the DEO had made him seem more of an enigma than he already was. She was torn between numerous emotions at once over how cryptic he seemed, all of the sensations connecting into endless roots of fear tangled amongst realisation and a strange sense of security. Hearing her footsteps getting closer, Adam straightened up, rolled his shoulders back and smiled politely. "Are you ready?"

"Not really." Kara chuckled humourlessly, walking down the hallways to the training cell as he picked up his pace and walked next to her. Whilst her mind was doing somersaults over the entire situation, her body seemed stronger; she walked with her head high, fingers tensing and curling.

Sensing an uncomfortable silence, the brown-haired man spoke, raising his eyebrows. "It's amazing, really – how you've hidden this whole part of your life for so long. From your family, from your friends…"

"That's a bit rich coming from you." She pointed out monotonously. His brown eyes turned to her while they walked, questioning her tone of annoyance.

He sucked in a breath, opening the door to the training centre for her as she gave him a miniscule glance and traipsed through. He exhaled. "Listen, uh… forgive me if I have this all wrong but… are you mad at me, or something?"

"I…" Kara started, exhaling into the room and turning around to face him. "It's just weird when you think you know someone and then they turn out to be this completely different person…"

"Okay, we went on two half-dates and you work with my mom. Since when is that considered "knowing me"?" Adam chuckled, not wanting to make the situation worse but feeling a need to confront her. He was growing agitated by her somewhat excuseless anger.

"You know what?" Kara began to retaliate as she stepped onto the training platform in the centre of the room, yet she deflated. What good would arguing do now? "Forget it, let's just train."

Adam raised an eyebrow, confused at how someone as courageous as Supergirl could turn back into a timid Kara Danvers and back again in a matter of seconds. He exhaled again through his nostrils. "Okay, sure." He reached a relaxed arm forward and adjusted the monitors of the room, activating the kryptonite emitters. Kara always hated this part; the sinking feeling the substance gave her. She had gotten more used to it as time went on, but she could feel her cells weaken. Still, she was resilient, balling her fists and holding her arms up. She smirked, finally regaining a tiny bit of her composure. "Let's go."

The man fought the urge to smile despite the grief the woman had given him before, cracking his knuckles as the corners of his mouth relentlessly teased upwards. He walked onto the platform, pacing around the perimeter as Kara did the same, before she was launching into a punch. Adam blocked it with his left forearm. The woman pivoted and punched twice again – Adam dodged, blocked and then, in one swift motion, hooked his leg around hers briefly, making her fall to the ground. Kara looked up, blowing a strand of curled hair out of her face as the man gave her a hand up. He smirked. "What, is your cape too heavy or something?"

The woman sneered and balled up her fists. "You wish." Without hesitation, she launched forward and punched him in the stomach, giving her a millisecond to plan her next attack; she kicked him backward. Adam got up immediately, though, with his composure intact, and went to swing his leg at her, but Kara was ducking backwards and crouching down, narrowly missing his foot, watching in awe as it swung just above her head. Getting back up, she leered, regaining confidence by the second with her chest pounding, then blocked his punches with her forearm. The woman raised her leg and aimed to ram her knee across his chest, but it was his turn to block. She swung over his head with her arm, but Adam used it against her, grabbing it and forcing her into a lock. Struggling for a moment, the blue-eyed girl then grunted and kicked his leg, forcing him backwards before facing him again. Truthfully, Adam looked taken back for a second, but masked over his expression quickly and balled his fists at his sides.

The man took a step forward – all that was needed for Kara to act on her next attack.

She took a few quick steps to him, then pushed down his back and jumped up, securing her thighs on his shoulders. Before he could say anything, Kara flipped effortlessly backwards and landed on her front, while Adam – who had been taken with her – plummeted to the floor behind her. The woman got up quickly enough to witness the man on the floor, winded, catching his breath. She smirked, her arms swinging freely at her sides. "What, is your uniform too heavy or something?"

He scrambled up as quickly as possible and brushed down his entirely black attire. Kara paced around as he followed her, catching his breath – ultimately making the first move as they continued to punch, block, and kick for minutes on end, only the sounds of shuffling feet and the grunts of the pair filling the room. Adam spun himself around and launched his leg into her torso, making Kara keel over for a second or two before she retaliated with an arm swinging over his head as he dodged. The woman took his new position to her advantage and grabbed his shoulder. At first he blocked her and retaliated with punches, but with one short movement, the blonde was twisting his arm as she moved under it and forcing it down – Adam flipped backwards on himself with his back on the floor, emitting a groan of exasperation. Supergirl sneered, stepping over him and towering. Adam chuckled breathlessly. "Okay, I get it. But don't act too cocky, Kara." With that, he curled a leg around her shin and shifted it to the left, making her fall with a grunt, missing falling directly on top of him by the slightest of margins.

She gasped for breath, but after ten more seconds, began chuckling. "Rookie mistake, huh?" She launched herself upwards and straightened out her cape, watching him get to his feet. "Well, I gotta go. Your mom is definitely going to bite my head off if I'm late for work." The two moved in unison, Adam striding to the monitors to deactivate the Kryptonite emitters, still arrogant at his last move (even if he had been beaten by Kara a few times). The blonde woman shouted behind her as she meandered through the double doors. "We should train again tomorrow – you need it."

She bit her lip as she crossed the grounds to the exit, and as she flew seamlessly through the cloudless azure sky, watching blissfully as desert turned to fields, which turned to houses, which turned to her beloved National City, her mind was plagued with thoughts. Alex had lied to her. Adam had lied to her. She had lied to him, too – and though it seemed like she could brush it off as something which was "not the same", it wasn't exactly dissimilar. Now, they both knew everything – and they'd have to mask all of this ludicrous new-found knowledge from his mother, whom they both had connections to. They would see each other frequently outside the DEO, no doubt. He would go to lunch with his mother. He would visit her in between work hours undercover at Lord Technologies, and Kara would have to watch at her desk as he traipsed through Cat's glass doors, having to pretend that he hadn't just helped her stop an alien ten minutes before. She huffed, swooping down to the roof of CatCo, wondering how she and Adam's already-complicated relationship had suddenly become that bit more convoluted.

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter is a bit lacklustre after the last… I have never written an action sequence before, and I basically used the training sequences from Supergirl for inspiration – nonetheless, I think it's still a bit choppy and boring, and definitely needs some work!**

 **I'll be updating as soon as possible (hopefully).**

 **-Beth/jennoists xx**


	3. Chapter 3

For the first time in a few days, things seemed normal for Kara Danvers. Of course, getting used to seeing the man she had broken was a tediously slow process, but it began to get unsurprising how he always seemed to be at the DEO, then at Lord Tech, then back at the base again. He hadn't crept up on her on the streets of the city or at CatCo yet, so to some extent the element of surprise was limited. The cerulean-eyed woman was currently chewing on her pencil as she tiredly drafted an email via the proclaimed "Queen of all media" when she looked up, her mouth gaping impulsively at what she saw, causing the pencil to fall out – well, it wasn't as though she had any dignity in front of him to begin with. Scolding herself for forgetting the inevitability of the moment that was occurring right before her eyes, she just about managed to prevent the pencil from falling off her desk and scrambled her hands over her desk. "Uh… Adam, hi!"

Dressed in normal clothes, he raised an eyebrow at the scene that had just unravelled before him, amused. He nodded. "Nice to see you again, Kara." The boy smiled, then walked through to Cat's office. And that was it. The blonde buried her face with her hands in embarrassment. Then, peering up from her pale fingers, she bit her lip and watched as Cat greeted her son with a tight-lipped smile, then began to speak. Kara watched hopelessly.

Winn passed her with photocopies in his hands, then chuckled, mumbling quietly for only her to hear: "You know you have super-hearing, right?"

Kara nibbled on her lip surreptitiously, contemplating if, with her new links to Adam, she should be so intrusive. She caved unsurprisingly and turned back to her laptop, pretending to type as she heard their exchange.

"So, I was wondering if you could get off work for a bit to have lunch. It would be great to catch up again." Adam leered.

Cat hesitated, then said matter-of-factly: "That would be lovely. I will make myself free."

"Okay then. Um, I'll come by at 1:30?"

"Okay." Cat mirrored. "See you then."

She heard footsteps getting closer and, sensing Adam was coming out of the office, managed to tune out of her super-hearing just as he stepped out of the glass walls and raised his hand to her. Resting her hands on her lower face nervously, the blonde woman took one palm away and quickly waved back with an awkward smile as he walked off. Kara, with her heightened senses, recognised that more was to come over her short exchanges with the man, or that there was another element; another pair of eyes watching. And she was not wrong. " _Kiera!_ "

Hearing the screech of her boss' name for her, the woman in question rushed into Cat's office with a notepad and her pencil. "Yes, Miss Grant?"

At the mere sight of her assistant, the woman looked exasperated. She traipsed to her desk and sat down slowly. "I don't know how much security you think you have working here as my assistant, but in case you have forgotten, allow me the liberty of reminding you." She spoke monotonously, raising a perfectly manicured hand and putting ice cubes in her tea with tongs, then pausing to speak through gritted teeth. "Thin ice."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Uh…"

"What exactly are your intentions with my son?"

Her confused look increased, this time contracting as her azure eyes brightened in shock. "Wh- no… no intentions, Miss Grant. None at all."

Cat's eyes widened manipulatively then peered down into her iced tea, finding the beverage more interesting than Kara as she continued. "Then why did it seemed to me that you are not at all surprised that he is back in National City, and that you must have already known about his being here?"

"Um… Miss Grant-"

The woman rolled her eyes, interrupting. "Kiera, I have made an active effort to keep my family life more private from you since the incident with my mother, yet somehow you can't keep your nose out of my family tree. I suppose I could take this as a compliment…" Cat wondered, raising her arms up from her desk slightly as if she was testing the air – then, she straightened up and put her utensil down, looking up again. "But I won't."

"I can explain, Miss Grant… Adam, actually… asked me out for coffee." At Cat's raised eyebrow, she clarified: "Platonically." Cat shrugged and continued to put ice cubes in her tea, showing she was suddenly disinterested. Kara took this as a way to increase the pace of her explanation. "He just wanted to talk to me to make sure there were no hard feelings. He didn't want things to be awkward."

Cat looked taken aback at the chastity of what happened – as a journalist, she always delved for something more interesting, but this seemed to be a story that just didn't satisfy. She shrugged again. "Well, then I guess I am proud of my son for being so mature. Maybe you should take a page out of his book before you "um" "ah" your way out of this building." Kara tensed at the comment as Cat raised the glass cup to her mouth, then sighed, waving her hand half-heartedly. "Be gone, Kiera. Those emails won't re-draft themselves."

* * *

It was safe to say that day had exhausted her – even if Adam had kept her boss occupied for a couple of hours, Cat came back from lunch with a vengeance, despairing that nothing had been done in her absence and threatened to fire separate people on multiple occasions. Kara was just thanking the heavens that one of them wasn't her. She had only just tossed her keys on the counter when a call from Alex rung through her apartment from her pocket, causing the blonde to huff, then pick up reluctantly. "What's up?"

The concerned voice of her sister responded. "Are you off work?"

"Yeah, just came home, why?"

"It's just… Adam found out some stuff about Maxwell Lord today. You might wanna be here for the briefing." Just from her voice, it was palpable the woman was cringing as she spoke of Kara's ex. She could sense it must have been uncomfortable for her sister.

"Sure, I'm on my way." Kara breathed. Within seconds she was flying out in her suit.

* * *

Supergirl rested her hands on the smooth surface of the circular table within the grounds and watched as more agents gathered around, including Hank, who explained that Agent Foster had found new inside information about Maxwell. Some officials brought tablets, ready to note down details – Kara just listened and watched Adam hopelessly.

He began his briefing. "Every day at around noon Mr. Lord activates a room of Lord Tech which was last occupied when he was working on Bizarro. No witnesses as to what he was doing, but he has said it's something to do with Supergirl." Kara gulped as Adam continued. "I managed to hack into the Intel and also saw that he had previously used his helicopter to go to a private location. The only CCTV monitors in Maxwell's private room are on his laptop and we've had no luck hacking into that so far, so I'll need to figure out his password and sneak into his room in order to find the resources." Adam explained. "Are there any questions?"

"Is there anything I can do at the moment?" Kara spoke up, looking at the table, then up at the man before her.

Adam hesitated, then matched her contact, looking at her azure eyes. "I'm not sure, Supergirl. But once we have an idea of what Maxwell Lord's intentions with you are, we can determine how to tackle the issue. Since you're the target, perhaps we should attempt approaching Lord Tech as DEO agents only first to prevent any risks."

The caped woman sighed. "He is always asking me for some sort of favour and now he's blackmailing me with God knows what. There's always something more to that guy."

Hank dismissed everyone, leaving Kara to walk by herself, accompanied by overhanging dread; Alex jogged up to walk with her as they made their way through the grounds, sensing her discomfort. Adam caught up to them too as Alex began to speak, addressing the elephant in the room: "I have a bad feeling about this."

"So do I." Kara spoke without hesitation. "The last time he was doing something in that secret room of his he was making an evil clone of me. What if he's trying to make another Bizarro?"

"No, that can't be it." Alex dismissed. "And you sent the Fort Rozz prisoners back, so not an alien we have on our database."

Adam spoke next, offering any information he had. "Well, the way he's spoken about it at the lab has all been very miscellaneous, but I guess there is reason to believe it is something… someone…"

Kara bit her lip apprehensively, hard enough to bleed if it wasn't for her superhuman abilities. "Oh God… what if it's to do with-"

Alex cut her off to silence what she herself feared. "No, we can't assume anything about that yet. We know so little."

Adam furrowed his brows. "What?"

Kara turned to him. "Project Cadmus."

Before he could question further, Vasquez was shouting over to the trio from the monitors and screens. "Supergirl, there's a fire on 12th Avenue."

Kara raised her eyebrows. "I guess that's my queue." She said – with that, she was running and flying out, leaving Alex and Adam behind to bask in the breeze she created as she departed.

* * *

Tossing keys onto the table by the door, he manoeuvred through boxes tiredly. Moving to a completely new city via his job at Lord Tech and his course with the DEO, as well as seeing his mother and discovering all this new information about Kara – all these new realms of understanding – had finally caught up to him as he trudged to the kitchen, jimmying open the fridge and reaching for a bottle of beer, popping off the cap and raising it to his lips. He placed the bottle down on the counter, then picked up the remote sitting by it and flicked on the television – the news. A reporter narrated about a fire, and the man was reminded of the blaze Kara was jetting off to extinguish.

As if his thoughts and the screen had perfectly aligned and synced, footage displayed of the burning apartment complex as Supergirl herself swooped in, rushing to the aid of the victims and the relentless flames. In a blur of red and blue, the superhero rushed people outside the building and to a safe distance away, only finishing when she was sure there was no one remaining. Then, Kara used her freeze-breath to extinguish the flames – as the building dimmed at last, the city's heroine slowly came down from the sky, smiling as people applauded. The footage and commentary cut to scenes of Supergirl comforting civilians – the fluorescent blue and red hues of nearby police cars glowed and cast the perfect shadows on Kara's figure as she cradled a baby, playing with its tiny fingers, smiling down at it and cooing as the infant's mother cried next to her and mouthed her gratitude over and over. She smiled at the mother and slowly gave the infant back. Adam took another sip of his beer. The footage switched to the heroine hugging a little girl – perhaps only six years old – wiping soot off her face as she grinned relentlessly.

With that, Supergirl was waving goodbye and flying upwards and away from the area. Adam put his beer down and caught himself grinning like an idiot as the report ended – he attempted to mask his expression and reached for the fridge again to start making dinner.

* * *

Finally dragging herself out of her fifth shower since being at home, Kara sighed and lowered her nose to her skin. She groaned. The smell of smoke was still there, but less noticeable now. With any luck, she could mask over the remaining stench with perfume and avoid the crinkled-up nose she would usually get from Cat Grant. Towelling off her hair, she felt her stomach grumble relentlessly and her Kryptonian body aching to be fed. She patted her stomach over her pyjama top and reached for the fridge, pulling out a deep dish pizza – the first of many, even at 11pm – and peeling off the packaging around it. She was about to put it in the oven when her phone rang again – this time, it was Adam. Furrowing her brows, she accepted the call and pressed the phone to her ear. "Hey, is there something wrong? I just patrolled the city."

He stuttered, strangely surprised that she actually picked up. "No, nothing wrong… Just… I saw you on the news."

"Yeah, I'm kind of a regular appearance on there, huh?" The woman giggled, twisting a wet strand of blonde hair around her finger.

"Yeah… I guess I just wanted to say that it was cool what you did tonight." The man confessed as Kara picked up her pizza and put it in the oven with one hand. At this point in time, he was on his miniscule balcony, resting one hand on the fire escape and looking out into the city, admiring the swirling sounds and blinking lights that came with it.

Kara blushed, and thanked God he couldn't see it. "You think so?"

Adam nodded, then realised she couldn't see him. It seemed he wasn't good at this, and imagining the expression Kara wore with her words – whether it was a smile or a look of concern – did not aid him in any way. "Yeah, I mean… Superman saves people and all that, but I've got to say – you dealt with that fire with such compassion." He paused, then spoke again, shyly. "You didn't just save people, you comforted them. DEO agents can't do that, you can."

The girl grinned, giddily, blue eyes crinkling at the corners into crescent moons. "Thanks. I'm glad." She listened to the silence that followed, then sighed. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to eat five pizzas and try to get the soot out of my fingernails."

Adam raised his eyebrows. " _Five_ pizzas?"

"Kryptonian's gotta eat." She smirked. "Bye, Adam."

He chuckled, then smiled out into the nightlife of National City. "Goodnight, Kara."

* * *

 **Oh man, this was so choppy – I'm sorry. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless!**

 **I don't know when I'll next be able to update, since I'm going to a festival on Thursday until Monday, then I'm back to school next Wednesday – with any luck I'll try to update before Thursday, but if that doesn't work out I'm sorry! I will try my best.**

 **-Beth/jennoists xx**


	4. Chapter 4

_Slipping into unconsciousness completely, all of her surroundings were white. She was in some sort of room – boxed in, tiles surrounding her and blocking out the blinding light as she found herself stepping over to the far wall. She seemed self-assured, with adrenaline pumping through her veins, walking taller and with more purpose – as she looked down, her light hair was cropped shorter and, like her surroundings, her clothing was entirely white. She bit her lip and smirked, feeling confident in her skin for what seemed like the first time – everything here seemed so real; so different. She stood 3 metres or so from the far wall and, looking up, found a void amongst the brightness at last – there was a reason behind it: a car was being lowered down into the bright room. She sneered, cracking her knuckles. She loved challenging herself nowadays – soon, he said, she would be at her full strength. A buzz signalled that the car had been lowered to the maximum height, and so she began._

 _Even with only a fraction of her usual strength at first, she significantly dented the car as a Kryptonian fist collided with the metal. She went again, increasing her power, punching faster and harder with each tossed fist. Her cerulean eyes contracted, sparking. She lifted her leg up and grunted, kicking the side of the car from high up as she rose off the ground slightly. The structure bellowed, swinging in defeat. The woman now used more of her superpowers, rising up from the ground entirely to meet the car's windshield. First, she froze the glass with freeze breath, then blasted the screen once with her heat vision at full power – as a consequence, the glass shattered and flew across the room. She smirked, knowing the shards wouldn't hurt her. Basking in her invincibility, she flew backwards, then lunged forward with a fist, vituperating further as she drove her knuckles through to the other side of the car. Loose pieces of metal now dangled precariously from the remaining structure. She continued throwing punches and kicks at a height, using her super-speed to approach the vehicle at different angles, until finally the structure caved and collapsed fully to the ground._

 _She was not prepared to give up, and raised her fist for another punch, when a familiar voice spoke overhead. "Very impressive. Soon, you will be ready."_

Within seconds, Kara was jolting awake and found herself again in her apartment, looking out across her living space from her open bedroom. She arose and sat up, thirsty, confused, exasperated from the sequence that had invaded her subconscious. It was all so surreal, so different to that of her usual meaningless dreams – this one seemed strangely real, as if every event that unfolded had actually displayed out before her, just as accurate and intricate as it had been with eyes closed. She mumbled something incoherent, rubbed her eyes and walked to the kitchen, noting the time as 4am as she filled up a glass with water. The woman was spooked, still thinking about the realness of it all – most dreams faded minutes after waking up, but this one stuck. It initiated all sorts of puzzles that even a Kryptonian brain could not decode. She took a few desperate gulps of water, then trudged back to bed in exhaustion.

* * *

Adam Foster had suffered through his fair share of unpleasant experiences as he trained as a DEO agent: blood, sweat, tears, loss, pain, even a few broken bones when he first started – but nothing had ever prepared him well enough for the fresh hell he was currently experiencing: being Maxwell Lord's assistant. He wondered if this was what Kara felt like sometimes working for his mother, but then again, even the baby-eating, fire-breathing Queen of all media could not have been this awful and impolite. The man was doing all he could not to break his cover and punch him clean in the jaw, knocking the smug expression off his face in the process. To pass the hours, Adam found a multitude of ways to keep himself occupied when he wasn't delving into Mr. Lord's secrets for DEO purposes: playing whole movies through in his head, thinking about what he was going to do with his limited spare time (whether that be hanging out at the park, attempting to make friends from work or taking a trip to CatCo to see his mother or Kara Danvers dropping a pencil out of her mouth and still managing to look strangely adorable), but more commonly these days: imagining locking Maxwell Lord in one of the DEO's training rooms and repeatedly kicking him in the head...

Before he could delve into his daydreams too much, the boss in question strolled leisurely out of his office, having locked the door and checked it once or twice. The man was annoyingly secretive. Adam gave him a small smile as he walked past his desk, and Maxwell reciprocated with a look of confused disgust. Again, the pleasantness of Mr. Lord never failed to surprise Adam. Nonetheless, the agent watched behind him subtly to make sure his boss was out of earshot and that no one else occupied the rooms and corridors nearby, before flicking on his earpiece. "Lord's out. I'm going in."

With that, he pulled out a paperclip from his pocket and started stepping surreptitiously over to the door, looking around him once more. Empty. He unwound the metal and jammed it in the door. In seconds, he was in and wasted no time shutting the door behind him and half-jogging over to the man's desk, loading up his laptop which was – unsurprisingly – locked with a passcode. He raked a hand through short chestnut locks and began typing, reiterating memorised codes that Vasquez was feeding him through his earpiece to get into Maxwell's laptop, poking his tongue out slightly in concentration. Within a minute or so, Adam was in. He didn't have the liberty of scrolling through endless files to find the live footage of the secret room that he so desired, so instead typed in another few codes and, within seconds, the page was loading the stream from the building. Adam waited impatiently for the footage to present itself, tapping his foot slightly and flicking his brown eyes over to the door, then to the monitor of the hallways which Mr. Lord had by his desk, and back to the laptop. Finally, the screen loaded. Adam froze at the sight.

He watched as Maxwell Lord entered the room and stepped over to a young woman. She sat down on the bench with one slim leg crossed over the other, hands resting at either side on the surface. She had cropped blonde hair and white attire, but above all, one factor remained and left Adam Foster fearful even with all the training he had ever experienced in five years: the woman had an uncanny resemblance to Kara.

Almost stumbling over his words as he explained the sight to Vasquez and Henshaw through his earpiece, he just about managed to fish his phone out of his pocket in order to take a few pictures of the screen and send them to the DEO base, trying to subside the slight shaking in his hands from adrenaline and shock. The awful sensations only heightened when he saw that Maxwell Lord was exiting the room, leaving Adam about thirty seconds to erase his tracks and get out of his boss' office.

The man cleared his history from the laptop, shut it down, and then expertly traversed to the other side of the room, looking around finally to see that he had left no other traces. Maxwell Lord was about fifteen seconds from turning the corner that gave him the sight of his office and his assistant's desk. Adam slid past the door and fished out the bent metal, toying with the lock again and rushing back to his desk after one final check that he had left no evidence in his wake, just as Maxwell Lord came into sight. Adam looked up from the work at his desk. "Mr. Lord, I was just going to the copy room, do you want anything?"

Max narrowed his eyes and smiled. "A cappuccino would be great." With that, he unlocked his door and shouted behind him before leaving Adam. "Two sugars!" The agent rolled his eyes.

Hank spoke in his ear. "Good job, Foster. We're running information right now."

Adam smiled, then shut off his earpiece and trudged to the break room.

* * *

Later that evening, the brown-haired agent was sat at the bar of Noonan's – coincidentally, the same area where he and Kara had sat on their first half-date. At the moment, the restaurant and café was in night mode, as many gathered to satisfy reservations, fulfilling thirsts for fine dining and the consumption of alcohol. He was one of these people, nursing a pint of beer in his hands as his eyes stared subconsciously in front of him at the screen across the room. Taking a sip, his vision finally cleared just as a news report had interrupted the broadcast, displaying a segment where Supergirl rescued a kitten from a tree and gave it back lovingly to a young boy and his family before beaming, waving and jetting off. A smile teased with insistence at the corners of Adam's mouth before he raised his glass to his lips once more and tasted the crisp, refreshing flavour of his beverage. Putting his beer down, he found himself shivering involuntarily – the day's hot and pleasant weather had seemingly chilled down to an unforgiving cold that escaped into the warmth of the restaurant as a person opened the door and walked in just behind him. After a few seconds, whoever it was had finally taken the courage to step further into the place. Adam heard a shy voice behind him and recognised it instantly: "Hey."

The man turned around, finally satisfying his thoughts at the sight of Kara Danvers in her 'regular person' attire. He smiled. "Hey, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be…?"

"I'm done for the day… so far." She guessed the end of his sentence and mumbled the last two words, as to keep her identity between them and no other passers-by in the bar. "I just thought I'd pick up a coffee so I'm awake for binge-watching _Stranger Things_ by myself tonight. What are _you_ doing here?" She bit her lip, cringing at how she had just revealed what Adam had probably already figured out: she had no social life outside of CatCo and her Supergirl business.

"Well, I'm done at work and didn't have any plans, so… here I am." He shrugged. "No Alex tonight then?"

Kara shook her head. "Yeah, she had to take a rain check. She's on a date tonight."

"Ooh, a date?"

"Yeah… it's with this cop she met the other day… Maggie Something… I don't know." Kara giggled slightly at her awful memory, then shrugged. "I hope it works out though."

"Yeah, I hope so." Adam smiled.

There was a short silence, one that Kara found agonising beyond belief, so she forced herself to talk about work – something which, after another tiresome day rushing between two lives, was not exactly on the top of her list. "So uh, Hank told me they were running tests on whateveryou saw in Maxwell Lord's secret room… any clue as to what it is?" She looked uneasy; she knew, whatever it was, it was intended as a ploy for Maxwell to blackmail, injure, or even kill her.

"Uh…" Adam sensed the negativity in the simple curves of her face and frowned, recognising her discomfort and exhaustion. He vowed against making it worse. "Hey, let's not talk about that right now. Don't worry, we're gonna find out what he's up to."

Kara gave him a tight-lipped smile, grateful for his changing the subject even if she had initiated it in the first place. There was another deafening silence for a second, then the young woman found herself stuttering into something else. "Hey, um… since we're both here… maybe we could just hang out? I mean, only if you want to, of course. And not like- you know-"

"Sure, why not?" He smiled, and Kara bit her lip over her grin, taking the seat next to the man and politely getting a waiter's attention, ordering a strawberry daiquiri upon receiving it.

Adam moved in towards her, whispering. "Are you sure it's safe to drink and fly?"

Kara shivered at the sensation of his hushed breath on her skin, then chuckled. "Alcohol doesn't affect me, but I love the taste of a well-mixed daiquiri. Thanks for the concern though."

Hours had passed, and the two had managed to knock back one more drink after finishing their first, just talking. The conversation remained varied and was interrupted only by a glance at the other person or a sip of alcohol; the words became meaningful and whole, intellectual and quick-witted, then shamelessly flirtatious at other times. The two talked, laughed and indulged in an abundance of anecdotes, not stopping until the members of staff were cleaning up at closing time, sweeping them out of the restaurant and onto the streets of National City in the process. The two walked down the block and Adam shyly suggested walking her home, then cringed when he realised that she could easily get home much more efficiently by flying. To say he was taken aback when she accepted his offer would be a huge understatement.

And so they walked, still talking like they had known each other for years, making ridiculous jokes and playing games as they walked between lampposts, occasionally pausing the conversation to bask in the bliss of how effortless everything seemed. It was with reluctance that they arrived at the door to Kara's apartment. The woman sighed, gesturing to the entrance. "So… I guess this is me."

He smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess so." He scratched the back of his head and Kara watched, impractically mesmerised. She nibbled on her lip, watching as Adam spoke again. "So, was this evening better than the one you had planned?"

Kara giggled. "Well, it's not exactly an even playing field… Netflix is way better than humans." Adam raised an eyebrow, then chuckled to the side of them. The woman before him looked down, suddenly hypnotised by her feet, not wanting to be taken by those eyes staring before her. "But I guess I'd say it was pretty close." She looked up to see Adam looking at her, his gaze piercing, fascinated by her. She blushed and looked to the side. "You know, um… you've confused me a lot lately."

Adam furrowed his brows and chuckled. "I've confused you?"

She swallowed, then attempted to stumble out her reasoning. "Yeah, like, uh… you asked me out for coffee, and then I saw you working for the guy that actually was kind of the reason we broke up in February, and then… you work at the DEO. And you tell me we can be friends, but then… you call me up… and now… something brought us here tonight…"

The man smirked. "I thought you didn't believe in fate."

Kara giggled. "I don't… I mean… I don't know. It just all seems so weird."

"Weird?" He raised his eyebrow. "I thought someone like you would be used to "weird" by now."

"You'd think…" She twittered, then shyly smiled up at him. "But someone did tell me a few months ago that "no one ever feels normal", right? So, I don't know… maybe this is just _normal._ The new normal."

She could sense him leaning into her, and was glued to her spot; marooned. The blonde woman watched with captivated eyes as his nose brush against hers, and then her eyes were fluttering shut on impulse as his hands curved around her waist and his lips finally pressed against hers. She felt herself kiss him back instantaneously, reaching up to his jaw with one hand. He broke away for a millisecond to initiate another kiss and she reciprocated again, the kiss growing very tender very quickly, her plush lips melting into his, until they broke away a minute or two later. Adam leaned in closer for another, but instead Kara pressed their foreheads together. "Adam…"

He whispered. "What?"

She sighed, keeping her eyes closed. She couldn't bear to open them and face him yet. "You know this is dangerous."

He exhaled through his nose and looked down. "Kara…"

At the mention of her name through his gravelly tone, her eyes flickered open again, trying desperately to look at him as her glasses posed as the only barrier between their contact. "I know that you know it's gonna mess things up. The DEO, working together, Maxwell Lord, your mom…" She bit her lip. "Your mom would never trust me again."

He inhaled deeply then broke away from her forehead, still looking down as she looked at him with bright blue eyes. There was silence for a second, then he raked his hand through his hair again and licked his lips. "Damn, you're right."

Kara deflated. "I- It's… it's not because I don't want to."

Adam raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

The blonde girl inhaled deeply as silence filled the space around them, inhabiting all of the surroundings until the pair were almost suffocating in it. It seemed to last forever as they just lingered in the knowledge that both of them wanted something to happen, but there were too many barriers and rules to break, and the risk of casualties was too high to even think about the possibility.

Eventually, Adam broke the silence as he spoke with a husky tone. "I should… probably go."

"Um, sure…" Kara bowed in dismay. Adam nodded, then began to step down the hallway. "Uh- unless! Unless…" Adam turned around. The woman thought fast, trying to think of a way to keep him in her company. "Do you want to come inside? I can make some coffee, if you want?" Adam bit his lip, completely confused why all of a sudden it sounded like the end of a date, yet minutes before they had realised it could never be. He thought back to their previous conversation, talking about how she found him so confusing the past few days, and how no one ever felt normal… relaying his own words back to him. The man bit down on his lip, apprehending himself because one last moment's weakness suddenly seemed so tempting. As an agent, he was not meant to cave in so easily to the ploys of others – but in those few moments, he wasn't a member of the DEO, and she wasn't the caped superhero that flew around tending to the civilians of National City. In those few moments, they were normal people – for once.

He found his feet moving to their own accord, following her into her apartment.

* * *

 **Chapter four complete! I hope you enjoyed this one, a lot happened… first of all: I hope I did the Kara/Adam scene justice (leave a review if you'd like to tell me how I did, wink wink), and second of all: what do you think Maxwell Lord is up to? Why is Kara having these strangely realistic dreams? What is going on? I'd love to hear any theories any of you have!**

 **Also, I hope some of you saw the Easter egg I put in there about Alex going on a date with Maggie Sawyer… I can't wait for that character in season 2, and with the huge speculation that Alex is going to be the LGBT character that the producers have hinted at, I'm already shipping them before they even exist!**

 **Until next time (whenever that may be),**

 **-Beth/jennoists xx**


	5. Chapter 5

Usually, being a superhero meant that days and weeks rushed by, uninterrupted, in flashes and flourishes – another family to save, another catastrophe to avert, another job to attend to, until the small hours crept up… then, before you knew it, the world was on its knees again, begging to be lifted to safety. Usually, that was what life was like for Kara Danvers. A whirlwind. But for the past two weeks, things had been different – even if it had gotten impossibly more complicated.

" _Nice place." Adam acknowledged as he stepped into her apartment unsurely, head still spinning at their passionate embrace, break-up, and then the invite into her apartment – all in the space of about five minutes. He decided that breaking the silence would be a good first step to decoding everything._

" _Thanks. It was Alex's, but she gave it to me a few years back." Kara replied as if she had been anxiously awaiting for him to break the silence from the beginning. She nibbled on her lip, walking relentlessly to the kitchen. Making coffee was her next mission in the absence of not having a superpower to diffuse tension. She started the machine and got out two mugs, risking a glance at the man in her apartment, who was looking around the open space and wondering how surroundings could so accurately pin down someone's personality. The blonde whipped her head back as she rushed around the cupboards and table-tops, fetching milk, sugar, spoons – the latter of which she tapped anxiously on the palm of her right hand to quench her overpowering need to do something with her hands._

 _The chestnut-haired man turned around and noticed her – turned away from him slightly, fumbling with utensils. He practically deflated at her ditsy discomfort caused by him being there, and suddenly found himself with a desperate need to stop her worrying, feeling dread hang over him at the thought that he had made her this restless. The man cleared his throat, gaining her silent attention. "Uh, this was fun… but maybe I should-"_

" _No! Uh, no…" Kara hushed him immediately, her voice coming out louder than either of them anticipated. The man on the other side of the kitchen counter stared back, bewildered by her obvious discomfort yet her incessant need for him to stay with her. She sighed, thinking how best to explain everything she so desperately wanted to say, casting her cerulean eyes downwards. Kara put the spoons down on the counter behind her slowly, then spoke in a quieter tone. "Adam… I so badly wanted things to work out how I imagined them to, ever since we were walking together through the city with ice cream in our hands." She bit her lip, looking up and speaking through a bittersweet smile. "But things were even complicated back then, and now…"_

 _He shook his head, speaking softly as if any loud sounds would cause the building around them to perish. "Back then you were scared that your secret identity would get in the way of us. Now, I know about Supergirl. I work with you. I see you most of the day. Isn't now a better opportunity?"_

" _But that's what's complicated. We work together, we see each other all the time…" Kara swallowed, tuning in for a few seconds to the complete silence around them other than Adam's breathing and increasing heart rate. When she looked up again, she saw him moving closer, curving around the counter so that they were on the same side. The woman sighed again. "I told you I wanted this to work. You know that."_

 _Adam's throat bobbed as he looked down at the smaller girl before him – for a superhero, she looked frail and defeated somehow. He bit his lip. "I wanted this to work too."_

 _A deafening silence robbed them of any more words as the pair looked at each other, trying to sense what the other person was thinking, wearing the same guilty expression like schoolchildren who had disobeyed the rules. Eventually, it was Adam who interrupted the stillness around them – but not with words. He leaned forward, pulling Kara into a hug. The woman smoothed her arms over his shoulders, forearms meeting behind his neck, face burying into his soft jacket, eyes closing as she got lost in everything that had happened. Even now, closer than ever, she could hardly make out his thumping heartbeat over the sound of her own racing in her ears._

" _I'm a secret agent and you're a superhero. We would have made one hell of a freak show anyway." He mumbled._

 _Kara chuckled into his jacket helplessly as his comment accentuated the bittersweet moment and rang through the silence. She sniffed, pulling back from their embrace and, in usual clumsy Kara Danvers fashion, accidentally brushed her forehead against his in the process – the difference was, instead of hurriedly stuttering out an apology, she remained there, forehead pressed against his, absolutely still. Once again, the glass of her specs were the only barrier from complete eye contact as they gazed tiredly at one another, arms still draped over the other person. Without any thought, Kara tilted her head up and closed the gap between their mouths, shutting her eyes and blocking their gaze in the process as he reciprocated, lacking the same thought process. For a minute or two, that was how they remained – marooned, lost, hopelessly helpless – yet no thoughts of calamity pounded in the back of their heads this time. It seemed effortless; as if, even though a whirlpool was forming around them, they had finally embraced the concept of drowning. They were letting it happen._

 _They broke away from each other, not flustered like the last time – now they were almost drowsy, tired of trepidation hanging over them. They were exhausted by the constant reminders of inevitable disaster. Kara finally released her arms from around his neck and drifted her hands down his shoulders, to his chest, finally taking them off nervously. Apprehension had finally kicked back in slightly and, even in her dazed state, she decided to keep her hands to herself as the pair thought about their next move. The reminders of danger never ceased, but the two had at least quietened them for a few minutes. Now, they could feel them coming back. Kara sucked in a breath, then mumbled into the limited air between them. "We both have secret identities, right? It's not like we're strangers to keeping big secrets." She paused for a moment to swallow her pride. "I mean… you must be a good liar, to even lie to your mom about your entire life…"_

 _Adam raised an eyebrow, sensing where she was going with her speech. He bit his lip again. "Are you sure? Like, do you think we can?"_

 _Kara looked up at him, knowing full well of the responsibility behind fibbing. She had spent her whole life being reminded of that – now, lying to her sister, her boss and the DEO could add weight to her shoulders that she couldn't cope with even with super-strength. Yet, picking at her nails nervously whilst his hands remained around her waist, she knew she had to try. An unfathomable power that she couldn't control pounded within her, propelling her into what was surely a risky decision – nonetheless, it was one that she had to take. She smiled up at him inquisitively, blue eyes meeting brown ones fully. "We can try."_

It had been two weeks since then, and what had at first been difficult to manoeuvre was now ultimately rewarding. Kara and Adam had spent days in each other's presence, acting completely nonchalant, then finally uniting as a couple at quiet moments, typically at night, but usually whenever others weren't looking. Considering the entire thing was the recipe for disaster, the first two weeks had been unproblematic bliss. Kara grinned to herself in drowsy reminiscence of the memories so far as she lifted up Adam's arm from around her bedsheet-covered torso carefully, getting up from the bed in her apartment after another idyllic evening in her boyfriend's company. Slipping on lace panties and the man's button-up shirt, she noted the time and kneeled on the bed, leaning over to kiss Adam on the cheek softly, then playfully mess up his hair. "Time to get up." She half-sang to him as he writhed on the bed.

He smiled hazily, rubbing his eyes as he sat up, the bedsheets shifting down his bare chest slightly. Blinking a few more times, he looked at her, eyebrows furrowing in realisation. "Is that my shirt?"

Kara giggled lethargically in response, straightening out the shirt she wore so it covered the top of her bare legs slightly. "Do you like it?"

"If you're wearing that, what the hell am I supposed to wear?" Adam grumbled in fake annoyance. "I'm pretty sure if I stumbled up to Lord Tech with no shirt on, Maxwell Lord would suspect something."

The woman pouted, cocking her head to the side, prompting messy blonde strands of hair to fall over her shoulder. "But _I'm_ wearing it…"

The man placed his hands at either side of the bed, pulling himself up further. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Kara sneered, azure eyes brightening cunningly, smirking at her idea. Adam raised an eyebrow and then, before he knew it, she was gone in a flash. She came back in the space of about seven seconds with a new shirt, his pants, socks, shoes and his Lord Tech lab coat, and dumped them all on the bed. Adam smiled, brown eyes widening as he grew more and more impressed by her abilities. "Did you just run to my apartment and back in your underwear?"

The woman chose to ignore his question, still grinning as she sat next to him on the bed. "Can I keep the shirt?"

Adam raised an eyebrow, arms tangling around her hips. "You can _borrow_ it." A smile teased at the corners of his mouth as he leaned forward and kissed her softly. The young woman reciprocated with equal gentleness, then pulled away, still smiling.

"Go get dressed. I'll make us some coffee." She chastised, then floated up from the bed and out into the open space of her apartment. She had only just stepped around the kitchen counter when a shock of black attire and cropped brunette hair whisked unannounced into the apartment.

"I brought cronuts! Hey, is that a new shirt?" Alex said as she raised a pink box, showcasing the pastries before acknowledging Kara's shirt. The blonde woman turned crimson immediately, shocked at the unexpected arrival of her sister and fretting about the secrecy of her current relationship hanging in the balance.

Kara gulped, eyes wide. "Sure." She bit her lip, looking down at her boyfriend's shirt and finding herself extremely thankful – for now – that the kitchen counter was covering her body from the waist down, thus hiding her bare legs. "Uh, thanks for stopping by, Alex. But now isn't really a good time-"

Her sister rolled her eyes, dumping the pink box on the countertop which Kara was hiding behind sheepishly, raising an eyebrow as she spoke nonchalantly. "Kara, I'm your sister and it's 8:30 in the morning. What could you possibly be doing?"

As if every higher being in the universe was ignoring Kara's desperate and mute pleas, Adam walked casually out of the bathroom just as Alex had finished her sentence, buttoning up his shirt. He was looking down at his buttons in concentration, not noticing the battlefield he had just walked into. "Babe, have you seen my tie anywhere? I have to be at Lord Tech in-" At last, the man lifted his head up, eyes falling immediately on his girlfriend's sister and his fellow DEO colleague. They stared at each other for an agonising few seconds which seemed like lifetimes, before Adam was looking at his girlfriend, who was still hiding behind the kitchen counter like an out of place tomato. His eyes slowly fell back on the brunette in front of him, whose stance had become cold as she raised an eyebrow, her mouth still slightly agape in shock. He cleared his throat as his hands dropped to his sides. Eventually, after what seemed like an hour of agonising silence, the man spoke in a formal tone. "Alex..."

Alex couldn't help but stand there, unimpressed but contributing nonetheless to the silence that thickened the air of the room. Speechless, she could only stare at her colleague as he looked back at her like a deer in the headlights. Eventually, she turned her body unbelievably slowly, finally tearing her eyes away from the man before her and looking behind the counter at Kara, who remained cringing in the corner. Now, though, Alex could finally spot Kara in her full attire – or lack thereof. It didn't take a special agent to realise what was going on, and the chestnut-haired woman connected the dots instantly while her blonde sister continued to nibble relentlessly on her lower lip. Alex finally closed her mouth, pursing her lips, unamused. The silence continued, seemingly for decades as the three of them could do nothing but look at each other. Finally, Alex opened her mouth to speak, interrupting the ear-splitting stillness in the room. "Oh, so really it's a question of _who_ could you possibly be doing…"

Kara tensed at her wry comment and didn't hesitate in trying to evacuate the tension, moving quickly past the counter. "Uh… Adam… maybe it would be best if you just-"

"Yeah, yeah, good idea." Adam instantly agreed.

Kara began ushering her boyfriend out as he hurriedly put his shoes on, the girl turning him around just as he was opening the door. "I'll call you, okay?" She assured him and leaned up on tiptoes for a very quick peck on the lips.

"Sure." He sputtered out nervously, then left.

Kara didn't turn around, just felt Alex take one step closer to her with an uneasy gust of tension. Alex spoke immediately, as if the door slamming after Adam was her cue. "Kara, what the hell are you doing?"

"I believe I'm in a relationship with someone who I actually really like, and who likes me back." She turned around, speaking naively, moving quickly and nonchalantly to the pink box of cronuts.

Her sister snatched them away with a scowl. "This is _not_ that simple, Kara. And you know it. I'm pretty sure it's even against the rules at the DEO."

"But I'm not a DEO agent-"

"But you work for them, right?"

Kara bit her lip. "I just… Adam is different… you know how much I liked him before, Alex."

Alex chastised, raising her arms in distress. "That was before he was a DEO agent, and working with a man who has wanted you _dead_."

"He's only undercover-" Kara protested, only to be interrupted by her older sister again.

"But what happens if Maxwell Lord finds out? He already knows who you are, that's new realms of blackmail." Alex ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Kara… I know you like him, but this is completely unprofessional."

"You don't understand," Kara began to beg, raising her voice.

"I do."

"No, you don't!" The blonde woman finally shouted louder, silencing her sister. She continued. "This isn't just some office fling, okay? He means something to me! He understands me. He knows what makes me better. I think… I think he really likes me."

Alex deflated. "Then why did you think you had to hide all this from me?"

Kara played with the cuff of Adam's shirt, azure eyes contracting in annoyance and sorrow. "Because we had to. Hank wouldn't let this fly in a million years." Her throat bobbed as she lifted her head up and to the side, afraid to look at her sister. "I already lost him once, Alex. I can't do that again. It wasn't exactly fun."

Alex weakened at the sight of her sister growing increasingly upset as her anger extinguished morbidly into sadness. She could tell how much Kara cared about the man – for all she knew, the pair hadn't been going out very long, and the girl was already pouring her heart out over him. She whined. "You know this is irresponsible, Kara."

Kara's glossy eyes pleaded with her suddenly, widening as her eyebrows narrowed in pain. "Please don't tell Hank. Please. This can be our little secret."

Alex huffed in apprehension, having flashbacks to middle school suddenly as Kara continued this childish act in front of her. She found herself watching as Kara reacted to the shock of sirens outside as they chased through the whirling streets of the city. A car chase at the worst timing. In seconds, the blonde woman was in her costume, donned in her courageous coat of arms even though the glossy eyes had only just subsided. Kara was just about to fly out of the window when Alex called after her. "Kara, wait!" The girl in question turned around urgently, her face still showing anguish for what had happened. Alex exhaled dejectedly at the sight. "Our little secret, right?"

Kara nodded, then took to the sky.

* * *

"Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" Adam approached his brunette colleague at the DEO base later that day – ever since the extremely awkward confrontation that morning at Kara's apartment, he had been drafting and redrafting what to say to her in his head. As an agent, he had learned many times to face difficult situations head-first, and this was no exception.

"If this is concerning how you spent the night with my little sister, I think it's in your best interest to refrain from going into detail." Alex growled instantly, not looking at the man to her left and pressing forward down the dimly lit hallways.

"It's not about that. Well, it kind of is. But-"

Alex sighed, then stopped walking and turned around, hushing her voice so only the man before her could hear – despite her discomfort with the situation, she'd hate for it to be made worse by others overhearing. "Do you know how dangerous this could be? Combining work with pleasure is tricky enough."

"I know… we talked it through together. We worked it out." Alex looked to the side, frustrated. The man persisted in a comforting voice. "It's going to be fine, Alex. I promise."

Alex raised an eyebrow and spoke monotonously. "I hope you can realise my apprehension."

"I do, and I'm really sorry about before. Really."

The woman sighed. "Kara told me it's more than a fling, so I'll take that chance and believe her. But if you two aren't careful, this could get messy very quickly." She warned. "I promised Kara I wouldn't tell Henshaw, but how long I am able to keep that promise is up to you and her." They began walking again over to Hank, but not before the woman mumbled near the man's ear darkly: "And if things go south, I won't hesitate to beat your ass."

The corners of Adam's mouth teased up. "I understand that's protocol."

As they made their way to the monitors, Hank was uttering orders to Vasquez, who got up the picture Adam had taken from Maxwell Lord's CCTV. The agent then zoomed in on the young woman photographed with Mr. Lord. Hank spoke, looking at the screen. "Vasquez ran facial recognition software across the country's database, but the only match we found was Supergirl herself."

Adam furrowed his brows. "So what does this mean? Is Maxwell Lord creating a new Bizarro?"

Alex sighed. "No, that can't be it. Maxwell Lord may be resilient, but he wouldn't try Bizarro again. Not after last time. This has to be something bigger than that, maybe with other parties involved."

"Well, he used his helicopter and since then has been using the room. There's still a chance that he retrieved the test subject from wherever he went." Adam spoke with haste, wanting desperately to find out what his boss was up to. He would do anything – now more than ever – to protect Supergirl.

Alex furrowed her brows. "But where would there be the technology to make this clone of Supergirl?"

Vasquez came over to Hank. "Sir, I've been trying to hack into Maxwell Lord's computer from our services, but nothing is working."

Hank exhaled through his nostrils, bowing his head down to the desk below him, where he was resting his hands. "We need another look at her – we can't yet determine if it's a clone of Supergirl, or where it even came from."

"All we know is that – whatever she is – she's going to fight Supergirl sooner or later if she doesn't give Max whatever he wants from her." Alex spoke fearfully as the feeling spread across all three of them, the emotions altering and varying into a new poison for each individual. For Hank and Alex it remained a familial feeling – the instinctive need to protect one of their own – but for Adam, it was a fresh feeling – one that he didn't know how he felt towards yet – but nonetheless, a desperate need to protect her.

* * *

 **So, Alex knows about them! A lot happened in this chapter and I hope you could keep up. It might be a bit rushed/there may be a few mistakes but I mainly wanted this chapter out before I go back to school, since I don't know when I'll next be able to write. Hopefully, this weekend.**

 **Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope it made sense, haha! I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to my dear friend Milly on twitter (melbnst) who has supported me immensely through this writing process. You're awesome :)**

 **Until next time…**

 **-Beth/jennoists xx**


	6. Chapter 6

_Her breathing grew rushed; relentless as her legs powered through hallways of a familiar and pristine building. The white and grey hallways stacked up like a maze before her, but with super-speed she zipped past corners and rooms effortlessly. The fact that she had such astonishing capabilities did nothing to cease the uneasy feeling shooting through her veins; the sensation which triggered her limbs to tighten as she sped up. Perhaps this was what 'fear' felt like. She stopped, comfortable with the idea that she was now far enough away from them that she could walk. They would not catch up to her for a while now – or so she thought. Beams of torchlights came spinning around the bend which lay before her ceaselessly, almost blinding as her eyes widened. They were onto her now. They were cornering her._

 _Despite the relentless threatening sensation piercing through her body, she somehow felt adrenaline – this threat became another mission; a challenge to beat. She was gone in seconds, leaving only the wind behind her as remnants of her presence before speeding again down another turn, one which she was sure was safe as she scanned through walls for sight of human life. She phased through a room, then spoke into her earpiece. "Why are they here?"_

 _A male voice answered back. "They do not see the beauty in your creation." She let her breathing return to normal as she listened. "They do not agree with you."_

 _The woman wetted her lips, running a hand through her short blonde hair, stepping further into the room. The lights where mostly turned off, with one flickering at the back of the room ominously, the blue-white light stuttering as if embarrassed to glow. The beam's unreliable sparks occasionally lit up the shadows of the room – shelves of studies, flasks, equipment. She took cover behind the last shelf of the room. "Why not? How can't they see I will do great things for this world?"_

 _She heard stomping feet further down the hallway with her super-hearing – another army was tracking her, and had finally found her whereabouts in the building. "You know that worrying is a weak emotion." The man spoke. The door opened to the room, and the blonde woman heard several sets of footsteps striding carefully past the shelves. "We will prove them wrong, together."_

 _She clenched her jaw as the footsteps grew louder and louder, closing her eyes to prepare herself for the mission, begging to smirk. It would be simple. She opened her eyes as they glowed from their deep cerulean colour to a hot white, like magma. She breathed out, speaking assuredly. "Together." With that, she turned around from the corner, revealing herself, and shot lasers at the men who dared to tread in her wake, confident in her own beautiful abilities as she shot, injured, killed–_

Kara gasped, reviving as the pictures before her finally stopped and – once again – she found herself on the mattress in her bedroom, looking out into the dark shadows of her apartment. Her breathing was heavy and persistent as she blinked, wide eyes slowly diluting in the moonlight and shrinking back as she forced herself to calm down, straightening out her night shirt as she sat up, leaning over and then cupping the sides of her face with her hands. Her sudden, shaky movements had not gone unnoticed. "Kara?"

The woman turned to see her boyfriend – the source of the groggy voice – who was rubbing his eyes and began to sit up. Her blue eyes, at first lost, cold and shaken, warmed at the sight of him. "Shh, go back to sleep." Kara whispered as she leaned down and moved him delicately back into the mattress.

"What's wrong?" He mumbled, looking up at her, concerned, smoothing his arms around her waist.

"It's nothing." She spoke chastely after a moment's hesitation, looking down at the man. "Just a nightmare."

He sat up, much to Kara's disagreement and guilt, yet still held her close. "Do you want to talk about it?" He yawned.

"No." She smiled sadly. "I want you to go back to sleep."

"I'll sleep when you do, and something tells me you won't be doing that for a while." The blonde looked down, between their bodies, shy under his knowing glances. Adam took that as a confirmation. "What happened?" He hushed.

"I was running…" Kara started, whispering down into the small space between them. "In a building. I was hiding from people… armies… they didn't agree with me. They wanted to kill me. They were hunting me down." Her lip quivered. "Someone said something about… about how they didn't like me being…. "created" or whatever… and I hid." The woman swallowed. "I hid," she repeated, not wanting to continue as she relived it, shaking her head. She sucked in a breath. "And then… I _killed_ them…"

Adam raised one hand from around her waist and curled it under her chin, lifting it up. He kissed the space between her eyebrows. "Kara…" He murmured. "It's okay."

"I know, it's just- you know…" She bit her lip, resting her hands on his lower torso, giving into his comfort despite feeling she didn't deserve any part of it. "God, it's so stupid-"

"It's not." He silenced her softly, mumbling into her skin. "But it's just a nightmare, remember? I know you would never do something like that." He moved the fingers which bent under her chin to her hair and stroked down the light strands. It was intended as an act of comfort, and for a while it was as a comfortable silence persisted, but soon Kara was reminded of her nightmare; the way she had run her fingers through her cropped hair in her dream, as if it had really happened.

She shivered. "I know…" Her eyes drifted up finally to his face, full of concern, the same as the last time she had seen it. "It just felt so real, is all… like no other dream I've ever had."

Adam wetted his lips, then moved his hand back down from her hair, sensing her slight discomfort. "Kara, think of who you are. You are not that person you dreamed." The woman bit her lip, listening to his reassuring mumbles. "The people of this city believe in you, they trust you – and you would never kill someone. You will never be that person."

"I know that too." Kara breathed, smiling weakly up at her boyfriend before lowering her head and resting her face on the soft fabric of his plain grey shirt. "Thank you." The man smiled and kissed her forehead, running a hand up and down her back. "Now go back to sleep, okay? You've got to go to Lord Tech early tomorrow." She murmured drowsily into his chest as they slowly lay back down.

He grinned. "It's fine, tomorrow's my day off. The only thing I'm really doing is seeing Carter in the afternoon."

"Really? That's nice." The blonde sniffed, closing her eyes. "I'm glad you two could get along. Carter can be shy, but he's really sweet once you get to know him and you know, make sure he's comfortable."

"Me too." The man nodded – truthfully, he had been nervous about meeting the brother whom he only recently had, but now, almost a month later, Cat's sons would try to see each other as often as possible around school hours and Adam's ever-busy schedule.

The woman muffled into his shirt. "What are you going to be doing then?"

"Just seeing a movie, then maybe getting some ice cream or something." Adam sighed as Kara cuddled into him more.

"That's nice." She repeated, smiling. "What movie?"

"I don't know yet." The man breathed. "We were kind of just gonna go down there and see what was available – I didn't want to scare him away by planning it out too much. I know Carter likes action stuff, but in all honesty, I don't really care about the movie – I just want to spend time with him. I mean, he's my brother." He felt the slow and steady exhalations of his girlfriend puff against his shirt, and smiled softly. "Did you and Alex ever do that kind of stuff when you were little?"

"Mh…" Kara agreed without words, revealing her intense exhaustion to Adam.

The man grinned, finally grateful that she had calmed down and they could sleep in peace, tangled together perfectly. "Goodnight, baby."

"Night." Kara sighed as Adam continued to stroke her back – in seconds, she was consumed again by sleep – this time, serene at last.

* * *

"Supergirl, what a pleasure it is to see you again." Maxwell Lord spoke wryly with a smile as the alien donned in her coat of arms hovered through the window and landed in front of him. Already, Kara seemed unimpressed and tired of his nice-guy façade. The man was plotting something to threaten her; blackmail her – naturally, when he asked to see her again, she wasn't exactly overjoyed. Nonetheless, another opportunity to see the man brought her and the DEO one step closer to determine the threat, so to mingle with the man and absorb his venomously treacly tone would come with a reward.

"Are you finally going to tell me what you want?" Kara raised an eyebrow, arms crossed, pacing his office slowly.

The man scoffed. "And what do you mean by that? Can't a successful businessman just want a little chat with the Girl of Steel?"

"Of course he can." The blonde woman shrugged, then furrowed her eyebrows. "Except that's never really happened between us yet, has it Mr. Lord?"

"Ouch." Maxwell said, eyebrows raised. "It seems National City's girl-next-door has a rough side."

"Not a rough side," Kara chastised monotonously. "Just an impatient side, like everyone else. Even you."

Maxwell Lord reclined in his office chair, raising his arms behind his head in nonchalance. "Well, since you're asking so nicely…" He sneered. "I want your pod."

The girl's azure eyes quickly grew confused. "My pod?"

"Yes, that little spacecraft of yours. You see, amongst all of my numerous and varied visits to the DEO, my eyes have instantly cast upon it in the centre of your base. Impressive, don't you think? Makes a simple old engineer like me so very _interested_ in the things it's capable of." The words flicked off Maxwell's tongue in faux-sincerity.

Kara's eyebrows knit together. "What do you want to do with it? Take it apart?"

"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds so cruel." The businessman smiled. "I prefer the term… 'manipulate'." The woman raised an eyebrow in response, and so the man continued. "The technology is so intricate, and I have never had a chance to look close enough to examine every detail… it flew you from whatever freak-show you came from to Earth, Miss Danvers. We're talking incredible aero-dynamics, literal out-of-this-world technology, so many amazing pieces of tech and engineering that – if examined and used in different media – we could use on Earth. Here, in National City."

"And your company could make millions?" Kara spoke bitterly, finally catching onto his plan.

Max sneered. "You have such a shallow impression of me, Kara. Don't you think I could be trying to use technology for the greater good of the world?"

Supergirl clenched her jaw. "Technology was practically sacred to my home planet. We praised it and treated it with respect. We didn't "manipulate" it for our own sake; we weren't selfish with it."

Max rolled his eyes and leaned forward in his chair. "The way you're cradling your lost culture like a security blanket for no one else to share… isn't that selfish in itself, _Supergirl_?"

Kara's eyes blazed in anger, her arms falling to her sides. "That pod is the only thing I have left of Krypton! Of my family!" She shook her head. "Never – not in a million years – will I let you tear it away from me and control it for the sake of enhancing a world already warped by technology."

The man before her was not moved by her pleas – instead, he was humoured. "You will change your mind."

"Why?" She demanded.

"Because what I have is worth so much more than you. It has the power to impact this world beyond your wildest dreams. If I don't receive that pod soon, I will be forced to take precautions." He spoke, standing up and raising his hands. "My hands are tied, Miss Danvers."

"They aren't." The woman spat. "You could be a good man, Mr. Lord. You could cooperate with me, like we did when there was no other choice; we could help this world, you and me."

He chuckled, raising a finger to her. "Your after-school speeches won't work on me, Supergirl. But nice try." He stepped closer to her. "I don't know what your "Krypton" was like, but in this world, it's dog-eat-dog. If you don't ask, you don't get. And I will keep asking until you're eating out of my hands."

She gritted her teeth. "And I will keep refusing until you leave me alone." With a flash of crimson before his eyes, the woman was gone into the sunset tiptoeing over the skylight of National City.

* * *

 **Sorry, this chapter was more of a filler chapter and not much happened, it was just put here to heighten the mystery. I hope you liked it! The next chapter will be more action-packed and probably a lot longer than this.**

 **If you enjoyed (or didn't), I'd really love to hear from you!** **Reviews are the things that keep me going with this story, so any reviews at all are greatly encouraged!**

 **Until next time (maybe next weekend depending on work load)…**

 **-Beth/jennoists xx**


	7. Chapter 7

A few days had passed, and with it, countless more attempts at blackmail and persuasion. Kara had grown tired of Maxwell Lord's constant attempts to contact her and venomous pleads for her technology, so much that now, when he called, she would stop turning up. She was confident it would not be anything serious (if it was, the DEO would know about it first), just a new threat to try; a new threat to exhaust before he hand-picked a few more. And so she stopped giving into his pleas, once and for all, and cut them out. It seemed that now the businessman had no choice but to search elsewhere to inflict his ill advice.

Alex tapped on her phone only to groan internally at the name which arose on the screen and, seconds later, the voice venomously twitching in her ear. Maxwell Lord had contacted her just an hour earlier with requests of seeing her to 'chat', and this request left the brunette only to assume it was concerning the encounter he had with Supergirl the previous day which, of course, Kara had voiced to her in absolute detail. Max's voice on the other end spoke in its usual sickeningly gravelled tone: "What, are you having trouble getting over here?"

"No, because I'm not trying." Alex spoke uninterestingly as she paced the hallways of the DEO base. "I'd much rather you conduct any blackmail over the phone. It's far more efficient."

Max chuckled. "You're sly, Miss Danvers."

"Not really. Just impatient with you."

"You sound just like your sister."

"Surprising." Alex spoke monotonously. "Speaking of my sister, are you going to be calling her as well? Or just want to get to her through me?"

Maxwell Lord swerved past her question in the hopes of letting the brunette forget it. He had asked to see her with an objective in mind, and longed to fulfil it even if the only way was via phone call. "I feel like your sister misjudged the opportunity I was offering her. I only wanted to share her culture and technology with the world, as it should be shared."

"Well, I'm sorry that my sister didn't want to hand over the last bit of her home culture to someone who would only rebrand it with a shiny 'Lord Tech' logo." Alex raised an eyebrow.

Max paused, licking his lips, then spoke assuredly into the receiver. "No compromises this time. Either your sister says goodbye to her fantasy life on Krypton and gives me the pod to work with, or-"

"Let's say, _hypothetically_ , my sister caves and gives you the pod. And you dismantle it and take it apart but you can't source the technology because it's too advanced, or you break it, or something. What then?" Alex pressured, annoyed with Maxwell's cunningness and disregard for feelings.

Maxwell Lord chuckled into the receiver. "That won't happen. My employees are the best in the country and if we can't isolate it, we'll replicate it."

She raised her brows as chestnut eyes widened out of bright shrewdness and faux curiosity. "Oh, like you did kryptonite? Because that worked out _so_ well the last time."

The businessman hesitated, but a sneer grew across his stubbly complexion: a sly, knowing smug that Alex would have immediately recognised had she met in person. "I wouldn't underestimate my abilities at replication _now_ , Alex."

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows, slowing down her footsteps as she approached the centre of the base. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that if your sister doesn't allow me to use her pod, I'll have to take precautions." Max teased.

"Against what?" Alex persisted. "My sister not buying into some corporation that's tried to kill her before?"

"Against threats. I'd love to elaborate further but perhaps you would rather see for yourself." He spoke venomously. "So what's it gonna be?"

The agent huffed, exasperated at how Max could possibly think she was even considering his side of the story, or how he thought he could convince Alex to persuade her sister to begin with – especially after all that's happened. "We've defeated you many times before. I'm sure we can manage another one of your " _precautions"_."

"You'll regret it." Max warned seriously as he leaned forward in the leather chair of his office, agitated at not getting what he desired.

"Wanna bet?" Alex spoke through gritted teeth before hanging up. She rolled her eyes, putting her phone back in the pocket of her black uniform pants. She looked around and turned to the side, where Adam leaned over the light spherical table, eyebrows knitted together in urgency, his chiselled face illuminated by a propped up tablet screen. He was doing some more digging on Maxwell Lord and was filing through documents on Maxwell Lord's whereabouts; the timings that he had checked in and out of Lord Technologies. It didn't make any sense. For months, Max had checked in and out for unlisted reasons at the same time in the middle of the day, yet almost a month ago, the visits had stopped altogether. He scratched his face in confusion. Alex sighed and began stepping over to him, then spoke in a hushed tone. "Hey, are you staying with Kara tonight?"

Adam looked up from his screen and cringed. "Sorry – was it meant to be sisters' movie night?"

"Not exactly. I mean, I'd come over too to help but I don't really want to invite myself into being a third wheel. Just…" She closed her eyes. As they opened and were revealed again, they reflected a warmly cold light, genuine and serious. "…You'll take care of her tonight, won't you?"

Adam clenched her jaw and looked up at her, trying to read her expression. "What happened?"

"I just got a suspicious phone call from Maxwell Lord. It was the same kind of blackmail about giving him Kara's pod, but this time it seemed more severe. It was like he was giving his final warning." Adam's eyes fell from her face in slow realisation. The woman continued, narrowing her eyebrows in worry. "Whatever he's planning in retaliation… it's gonna happen soon. _Really_ soon."

The man clenched his jaw and looked back up at her, then nodded. "I'll look after her."

* * *

 _She stepped purposefully, legs powering as invincible muscles contracted and released, feet colliding with the floor assuredly as she clenched her jaw. Cerulean eyes blazing red, she clicked on her earpiece and spoke huskily to the man on the other side: "Where are they?"_

" _I can't see them on the monitors… maybe they're going through a different exit." He spoke in a serious tone, fearful of consequences he was not sure of yet. The Kryptonian sighed, looking to the side as she turned another corner, pacing strongly through the facility, turning again, walking down and, again, turning right._

 _This time, she was faced almost unsurprisingly with a swarm of camouflaged men, standing in rows, holding guns up. She spoke nonchalantly into the intercom. "Found them." Relentlessly, the dull black weapons fired silver bullets one after the next on the woman as she merely watched, raising an eyebrow, looking uninterested. The bullet bounced off her pale skin and white attire just as quickly as they left their barrels, pooling at her feet. She sneered, then offered a look of innocence as her eyes widened without emotion, stepping forward imperturbably and crushing bullets under her superhumanly strong feet. "Oops." Her burning eyes didn't waver from one military officer with a meaningless face in about his mid-forties, front and centre. He was the leader. The man gulped but clenched his jaw, hands unmoving as he remained pointing the gun at her. She bit her lip. "Don't worry officer, I'll be out of here soon." She spoke treacly as she reached forward and, despite his firm grip, took his gun with ease, making dents on the metal in the process. She bent the gun around to face him, watching as his eyes widened at her incredible strength and he finally began to show nervousness. "You on the other hand…"_

 _Her eyes glimmered with pride as she wrapped a slender finger around the trigger and fired with just a twitch of her hand, propelling a silver bullet through his neck. A fatal shot – so fatal, in fact, that the bullet glided through his neck and hit the officer behind him. Both men fell to the ground, eyes wide in a shock that would now remain infinitely._

 _The woman took a step back with one hip slouched, then twirled the gun around in her finger so it spun, despite it being a definite two-handed weapon. "Two birds with one stone, as the humans say…" She remarked smugly, then looked up as her eyes began to glow a hot white. "Who's next?"_

 _The military officers continued to fire as if they had not learned anything at all, and she continued to step on the bullets rolling on the linoleum floor as they concaved under her feet with a crunch. She shot lasers at the men as they fell like green shadowed dominoes and her eyes glimmered like a child at the colours that swarmed: red, green, black, grey, magma. Once the small pack of men had all fallen at once, her earpiece switched on again in her ear. "Well done – beautifully executed. In fact, I already have another task for you. Why don't we meet in the control room and discuss it now?"_

" _Just hold on a little longer…" She smirked. "I'd like to do some playing first." With that, she turned off her earpiece and sashayed effortlessly through the bodies until one man caught her eye – he was not dead, yet. His eyes were fluttering closed as he breathed severely, a fatal laser wound sliced across his torso – but a light one in comparison to his fellow men. She smirked and crouched down, leaning forward to touch his face. "I'm sorry… everyone's got to have their fun, right?" Her eyes glimmered, yet narrowed in concern. "And really, it was kind of your fault in the first place – you know it was a stupid thing walking into this place. Well, as long as I'm here at least…"_

 _The frail man spluttered, interrupting her treacly monologue. "How can a monster like you… look so… human?"_

 _The Kryptonian tilted her head to the side as her short, blonde tresses moved with her, some strands going slightly in front of her face. Her red lips teased up at the corners and tightened into a smile. "Oh honey, I'm not human…" She murmured seductively. "And I am so much more than a monster."_

 _The woman wavered her thin fingers from the man's cheek, across his lips, down his chin, and rested them at his neck as she began to curl one hand around it. Once more, the light emerged from beneath sapphire eyes and was revealed in a glimmer of vanity as she contracted the muscles in her pale fingers and curled them inwards. The man's first response was a final, strangled gasp, and then there were no more responses left. The woman kept closing her grip, tighter and tighter, feeling the man's skin break beneath her, feeling his muscles burst, feeling his veins pop, feeling his spine crack and shatter…_

Kara woke up, shuddering, her breathing heavy and detached, and blinked back the memories with watery eyes – but no blinks silenced them.

 _The woman smirked, slowly rising from bent knees, not letting go of the officer's neck as she pinned his lifeless body against the wall. Her fingernails now bent along with her superhuman muscles, cutting effortlessly through skin cells._

Kara looked around her, limbs trembling, lip quivering. She could see her apartment in the dark. She could see Adam's body lying on the bed next to her. But after every blink, the images would change. It was as if the dream was a filter that fell thickly over her current vision. She saw both worlds, and could not refresh her sight to rid of the dream world. It all remained as she sat up and frantically looked around: the sounds, the smells, the sights. The blonde whimpered as she stood, her legs almost giving way underneath her as she stepped out from the bed, flinching and whimpering silently. Every time she blinked the pictures showed.

 _The woman wrung her hands around the man's neck like a wounded cloth, so that her fingernails left spiralling scars around it. She smirked, admiring bitterly._

She stepped into the kitchen as she bit her lip, trembling still with eyes wide out of fear of closing them – but eventually, the tears would sting, and she would have to blink. And the pictures showed. Kara rose her shaking hands to her face and held her cheeks, which had grown wet with falling tears. She whimpered, and gasped again as she closed her eyes. "Stop…. Stop…." She begged, reaching for the kitchen sink as she turned the cold water on full with one hand resting unsteadily on the side of the counter. And the pictures showed. She reached forward with cupped hands and splashed her face with the freezing water, breathing hitching at the sensation. She had to close her eyes reflexively – and the image of her hand scraping, swelling, cutting, showed. She ran wet hands through her hair as cold water dripped from her nose and chin. Again, she blinked on reflex as droplets trickled from her forehead, and the sight of her own maroon hands around a man's blooded neck caused her to wheeze and hold a hand tightly around her mouth, screaming into it, begging louder for the images to stop. She shrieked, reaching forward with a shaking hand to turn off the faucet, but the sight of her wet hand clutching the knob reminded her of the images of her hand, and so she flinched and yelped, jumping backwards and breathing heavily. She whimpered, clutching her head with shaking, cold hands. "Stop! _Stop!_ "

Finally, the woman heard the frantic patter of steps coming from the bedroom. "Kara!"

She quailed at first at the shadow hurrying near her, breathing heightening as the dull moonlight finally identified his face. Her lip quivered. "I can't... I can't… Adam…"

He reached her finally, warm hands grasping her arms as she flinched again. "What happened? You can't what?"

Kara blinked back tears and whined as the images showed again – luckily, they were fading, but that didn't yet dampen her frantic mood. Her lip trembled. "I can't… un-see it…"

Adam raised her chin with a hooked finger and stepped closer to her once she let him. "Did you have another nightmare?"

"Mmh…" She answered with a snivel, squeezing her eyes shut. "But I don't… know…" She whimpered into the air between them, shivering as water still dripped from her face. "It… won't stop…"

The man's throat bobbed as he wiped her cheek. "Kara… it's not you…"

"I know…" she cried, heaving. "I know, but it just kept going…"

"What do you mean?" Adam soothed, heart pounding.

"My eyes were open…." She gulped, head thudding and limbs shaking. "And I was moving, but it kept showing…" she choked out. "Every time I blinked… I saw myself… killing…"

"It isn't you." Adam murmured as he caressed her cheek. She sniffed, then continued to tremble. "Kara, please, it isn't you… it's just a bad dream-"

"No it isn't!" She yelled, but the boy didn't move, just seemed taken aback. "It seemed- it was real! I killed them all… I shot them… burned them… ch-oked them…"

"Kara, listen to me. You didn't. It's all in your head." He begged her, trying to snap her out of the frantic hallucinations as firmly but gently as possible. "You know you would never kill anyone, even less so innocent people."

"They didn't seem innocent… they were the military… they wanted me dead, but they didn't know how to kill me." She shook her head, blinking tears down her face in pain. The images finally began to stop, but the torture of it all persisted long afterwards.

"Then it was self-defence?" Adam whispered. "Kara, if it was-"

"It wasn't like that." She spoke as her chest pounded and longed for more oxygen as she continued her heavy breathing. "I… killed… more…"

The taller man shushed her gently, trying to calm her down. "Kara…"

"I overkilled…" She gulped, moaning involuntarily. "I continued long after they were dead… they were all… dead…"

"You didn't." Adam assured her, bringing his other hand up to her cheek, soaked by salt tears and cold water. "Baby, please… you didn't do that… someone else did. Someone who wasn't you. Supergirl would never do that."

"Supergirl… didn't…" She shivered, looking up into his eyes through her bloodshot ones. "It wasn't _Supergirl_. It was me, but… stronger." She paused to swallow, her pulse beating like a frenzied metronome. "And I looked different."

The chestnut-haired man pressed his lips together, then whispered. "How?"

"I had short hair, blonde… b-but short… and a white outfit." She sniffed, breathing shuddered, detached, broken as she was, but lowering in depth. "I don't know… like a leotard…"

Adam's head rose up in comprehension. Cropped blonde hair, and a white leotard covering a stronger build, but a complexion like Kara – it seemed too eerily similar to the woman in Maxwell Lord's secret room. His throat bobbed, then lowered so he faced her again with a serious expression. "Kara, this isn't you. Maxwell Lord is messing with you, but we're gonna stop him." He assured her with his face clenched slightly out of blazing anger for the man for making Kara hurt this way. "But you need to talk to Alex and Hank, okay? They need to know about these dreams."

Kara gulped and spoke through cry-swollen lips. "Maxwell Lord? H-How… is he…?"

"I don't know." Adam sighed as Kara remained shaking slightly in his hands. "We need to go to the DEO."

"Not now…" The woman whimpered, finally reaching forward and holding him closer. "Not now, please… I can't…"

He bit his lip, then leaned forward and mumbled into her forehead. "Of course, of course." He shushed her as water droplets dripped from her chin onto his pyjama shirt. "Are the images still going?"

Kara whimpered, then shook her head slightly. "N-o… not any more…"

Adam kissed her forehead as her shaking grew softer, yet still prominent. "Why don't we get you dry again?" He said, stepping back a bit and taking the single step needed to walk to the sink, as he reached forward and silenced the trickling monotony of the cold faucet. He turned and grabbed a tea towel to his right, then returned to her and began blotting her face dry. The woman sniffed as she closed her eyes, feeling the soft warmth of the towel press lightly against her face, wiping away some of the chill of before. Finally, he put the towel back down and looked at her for a second as she sniffled, glancing up at him with shy, bloodshot slits for eyes that were afraid to open, yet even more afraid to close. He wrapped his arms around her as she hugged him back, finally turning her shuddering into a dull quiver.

Without words, Adam broke away from her and led her, with one arm still around her, to the bedroom. She followed with snivels and agreed silently to lie down after him, curling up to him for warmth as she shivered; resting her head on his chest as he pulled the covers up to her shoulders. And yet, she still could not close her eyes.

After ten minutes or so, Adam leaned his head down and spoke huskily. "Kara, they can't hurt you here."

She bit her lip to prevent it from trembling again – it had only recently stopped from the first time. "I know." She whispered, looking up at him. "I'm just…"

"I know." He mumbled. "But if anything happens, just tell me."

Her mouth twitched upwards and attempted a smile, but wavered down the minute it arose as her head rested once more on his chest. She rose an arm up to rest on his stomach and, with a broken sigh, finally closed her eyes. As she met nothing but blackness and swirling dull colours, she relaxed her muscles and rested at last, hopefully until morning. She sniffed, then spoke hoarsely at last: "Okay."

* * *

The next day, the blonde superhero stepped with frail feet into the DEO base, donned in her coat of arms as usual, trying her best to continue a confident façade which would not present itself within her. She nibbled on her lip nervously, fearful for what was to come, fearful of saying what had happened, fearful for what it could mean. Her eyes cast on members of the organisation flitting around like moths in the dark, clinging to the screens in front of them. Everyone was busy, moving, concentrating. Alex and Hank were examining the screens in the main part of the base. Vasquez accompanied them with frantic fingers typing. Adam sat by on the table, examining word documents. The sight of blue and red in his peripheral vision sent him glancing at her subtly – a gaze which she matched with apprehension. He clenched his jaw in seriousness, then nodded to her. He knew what she had to do. Kara's deep blue eyes shied away from his brown ones suddenly, before walking with sturdier feet over to Alex and Hank. "I need to talk to you." Hank and Alex turned around to the voice, then looked at each other. "Both of you."

Director Henshaw furrowed his eyebrows. "What is this about?"

Kara bit her lip, then walked slightly away from the crowd of people fleeting at the screens, leaving the two agents to follow after her. She exhaled deeply through her nostrils. "Recently, I've been having these dreams. Nightmares. But it's like they aren't dreams… they're memories. They seem too realistic." She collected her thoughts, watching as Alex put her hands on her hips and listened to her sister. "In these dreams, it's like I'm stronger. It's like the things that it takes me a long time to master now, I can do with just a flinch. But my head is in a different place. It's like… I'm evil." She shook her head. "These dreams- they're gory. I can't stop seeing myself killing people – killing the military. And I'm in this weird building with experiments and no colour… and someone is talking to me… as if they are training me. Training me to kill."

"Does the voice sound like Maxwell Lord?" Alex asked quietly, eyebrows narrowing in concern.

"No." The blonde assured. "No, it's someone different. But I know he must be behind this."

Hank spoke next, crossing his arms and listening intently. "How?"

"Because in these dreams, I don't look like myself either." She bit her lip, then looked down. "My hair is short, and I have some white leotard on. I don't know what it means."

The brunette agent and the director looked at each other nervously, the cogs in their brains turning and fitting perfectly into place as they recalled the images of Maxwell Lord's patient. Alex turned back, reaching out and touching Kara's arm – but the woman flinched. Any other contact still seemed alien after the events of last night. Alex put her hand back down, face stiffening. "There's something else, isn't there?"

"Every time I have the dreams, I wake up all shaken, like I'm waking up from a regular nightmare. But they've grown more and more frequent and hard to recover from, and last night… I woke up… but it didn't stop." She looked down again. "Every time I closed my eyes or blinked, I saw it again. Eventually it faded, but only after maybe five or ten minutes. It was horrible."

Hank looked down at her, genuinely concerned for the young woman. "What did you see this time?"

Kara sighed, looking back up, feeling disgusted in her own skin to even have the images in the first place, let alone relive them. Her cerulean eyes flickered to the side of them, afraid. "I killed military members in the building. They wanted to kill me, but they didn't know how… and then, I took one man who wasn't dead yet, and strangled him." She closed her eyes again. "I kept going until I felt the bones crack underneath my fingers."

Alex took a step forward. "Kara…"

Next, Director Henshaw looked at her sincerely, recognising her distress and how horrible it must have been to live through the pictures that played in her head. With telekinetic powers, J'onn had seen things that had scarred him, even other's thoughts. As he read the girl's mind in front of him, the images replayed with such clarity; such shocking transparency, he could not blame her for her apprehension. "Miss Danvers, it doesn't sound like the person in these dreams was you."

She bit her lip, raising her voice slightly. "But the images, the sounds… it was like they were from my point of view. Like I had seen it through my eyes."

Hank lowered his head in thought, and raised one hand to scratch his face. He mumbled to his feet, dropping his voice. "This woman seems to have the same capabilities as you… and you say this building you were in had laboratories?"

"Yeah." Kara breathed, playing with her fingers.

Hank sighed, flaring through his nostrils. "It sounds like this person you've been seeing is someone with your exact genetic makeup."

Alex nodded in slow comprehension. "A clone."

The blue-eyed woman's blood ran cold for the second time in twenty-four hours, and she sighed a shakily upon morbidly connecting all the dots. "But…" She started, eyes frantic. "This woman, she seems stronger…"

Hank swallowed, finally looking up. "Then it's possible that she's been made to be stronger."

Kara shook her head. "I guess… but that doesn't explain why I've been having these dreams."

"They could be her memories." Alex thought out loud, breathing out her response. "You could be experiencing a psychic connection."

The woman's brows interweaved in confusion, eyes dulling in disorderly realisation. "But… how is that possible…"

Before she could comprehend anything at all, Kara was thrown, unprepared, into a state of subconscious frenzy. Her eyes rolled backwards as flashing images appeared agonisingly in her brain, white noise shuddering her mind and cutting through her ears. She clutched her head, taking a step backwards, opening her eyes again as the images still showed. Every time she blinked, the images showed. With each blink, they cleared. And so she closed her eyes, facing the unbearable pain straight-on, trying to determine the vision.

Alex reacted instantly, frantically reaching forward and grabbing Kara's arms as her eyes rolled backwards and she whimpered. "What's going on? What's happening?"

 _She flew mercilessly, basking in the cold wind hitting her skin at speed. She had an aerial view of National City and began closing into the park, where thousands of children and their parents played and civilians walked across the grass. Picking up her feet, she got closer to the ground; civilians noticed the woman flying overhead, appearing confused. Their Supergirl had changed. It seemed like someone entirely different, just by her mannerisms and costume – and that was exactly the case._

As more DEO agents crowded around Kara who quivered, squeezing her eyes shut and clutching her head, Adam looked up from the table and watched as his girlfriend cried. He could not shift his behaviour, he could not rush to her side and comfort her this time – he could only sit there, watching as she whimpered and Alex held her by the shoulders. He could not tear his eyes away from her.

Finally, Kara opened her eyes again, gasping. Alex leaned closer. "What happened?"

The superhero breathed heavily, finally recovering from the agonising pain and visions. "It's her. She's at the park." She exhaled urgently, looking deeply at her sister. "Alex, I have to go. I have to stop her-"

"No. We don't know what she's capable of yet." Hank interrupted earnestly with a strong tone.

Kara hesitated, looking down, then between them again. "I have to try." She begged, and before anyone could object again, the woman sped off out of the base.

Alex and Hank looked at each other, before Hank issued orders, hollering to the agents surrounding him. "National City Park, gear up! Stat!"

The Kryptonian superhero was soaring across the skyline of National City, eyes narrowing in determination, jaw clenching and face tensing in tenacity. As she saw the sight of the park on the horizon, she squinted further and increased her speed with a gust of wind to mark her previous place, powering through turbulence as her crimson cape flapped and glided behind her. As she began to close in on the lush green surroundings – of which there were few in the city – the blonde began to slow down and tilted her body upwards so she was vertical, still hovering in the air as she descended. The caped superhero scanned her surroundings for any unusual activity, and then, she saw her. The clone. The woman in her worst nightmares. She was just as she appeared before – a built woman, clad in a white leotard with a cut-out on the décolletage, white boots and cropped hair. Kara pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes, closing in so she was just metres away, hovering in the clouds. The alien clone turned around having sensed her arrival with her superhuman abilities and smirked, hovering closer to the superhero in the air. She lowered her arms from where they were crossed over her chest, pacing them assuredly at her sides. "Supergirl. I was wondering when you were gonna show up." The woman raised the corners of her mouth into a sneer as she cocked her head to the left and shocks of cropped blonde-platinum hair followed, framing her chiselled face. "This guy I know in the city has told me so much about you. He's told me about how you're looked up to by everyone, and how everyone here thinks you're so damn _super_ …" She inspected her nails. "But to be honest, I don't see it. Have you considered rebranding?" She peered up at her mirror image again and chuckled, shaking her head. "I could have gotten here double the speed you came, sweetheart."

Kara's heart pounded as she gritted her teeth, her head swarming with questions which she could hardly begin to answer. This woman before her was her reflection, yet it had been so distorted. This reflection sneered. This reflection licked her bright red lips and stood calmly – almost bored. This reflection had such incredible power – power that she was manipulating. Power that she was mistreating. Kara lowered her head slightly and looked at the clone through her eyebrows. "Who are you?" She asked forebodingly.

Her counterpart chuckled, getting slightly closer and straightening her head back up as blonde tresses swayed. "Oh dear… you really aren't all that super, are you? Even with some unplanned clues, you still haven't figured it out?" Kara's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, yet she clenched her jaw harder at the sound of the woman's honeyed tone. "I had to make my debut a little earlier than planned, thanks to you. You've been having these unforeseen visions of me. Nightmares. Crying to some silly little boyfriend and praying for temporary comfort." She whined in false sympathy. "Those psychic visions must have been a little hiccup in the engineering... not that I'm complaining." She spoke seductively. "Maxwell Lord has told me _so_ much about you… and now I get to see the Girl of Steel for myself?" The woman chuckled. "It's safe to say you're not anything special." She shook her head slightly, allowing the cropped, straightened strands of golden hair to shimmy effortlessly around her face. "And to think I was made from you… What an _upgrade_."

"Who are you?" Kara yelled louder, silencing the menacing tone of the built woman before her.

"Oh honey, you really don't know?" The woman smirked, raising an eyebrow as her cerulean eyes glimmered. "I'm you." She sneered. "Well, actually, I'm better. And I'm not you, not really. I'm _from_ you." Kara inhaled through her nostrils and out again, eyes blazing, heartbeat increasing rapidly in tempo out of surprise and anger – what Alex had hypothesised mere minutes ago was true. The woman smirked again, biting her lip as she put her hands on her hips. "So, what do you think? It's important that you like yourself. I'm just like you, really… just accelerated a few extra years, plus better trained and naturally more powerful. And, I have to say, a _hell_ of a lot smarter."

Kara stepped forward so the two were closer than ever before, yet still at some distance. "You're Maxwell Lord's secret project, aren't you? You belong to some crazy scientist who collected a few of my hairs and made their very own Supergirl – some kind of top-secret government agency that wants to turn superpower into nuclear power?"

The clone's eyes gleamed with sarcasm. "It's like you're reading my mind." She hovered a few metres closer, grabbing Kara's neck as she let out a strangled gasp in shock, traumatised at the similarity of the sensation to the dream she had the night before. "And sadly, that's actually part of the problem..." The woman enclosed. "And why you have to die." With that, she launched Kara from her neck into the apartment building behind her as she powered through countless windows and walls, out to the other side. The woman breathed heavily and groaned, but flew around the building with speed to return to the woman. The clone had heightened senses, though, and grabbed her cape before she had the chance to throw a punch, spinning her around and launching her into the ground of the park. Passers-by were now shrieking, screaming, gathering children and belongings and running away with haste. The clone smirked, then returned to the surface to pick up a parked car, lifting it like a five pound weight and hurling it at Kara. The superhero had just about enough time to curl into a crouched position as the car hit her, then dented and ricocheted to the side. She stood up quickly and sped to the sky, where the woman had risen and lit up her eyes as they glowed a magma red and shot at Kara quickly. Supergirl matched the beams with her own laser vision. The clone spoke as her beams overpowered the superhero: "From what my mentor has told me, I'm already tired of your goody-two-shoes shtick. Shouldn't you know by now that America doesn't need _hope_ to survive? Hope is what makes us pathetic. It makes us weak!" She grinned villainously, eyes still burning into the less powerful beams. "For America to truly be powerful, we don't need hope – we need a strong force to continue obtaining global hegemony. And I will lead our force. We will be powerful again at last. We will be the strength of this world; the rock of this world – all thanks to me, and no thanks to you, _Supergirl._ "

Quickly, due to the concentrated power of her opponent, the beams of the clone began to overpower Kara's, as she had no choice but to return her eyes to normal and swoop down rapidly to dodge the red-hot beams. She used both super-speed and flight to propel herself upwards and, finally, landed a punch on her opponent's face – but she still did not seem taken aback, and hurtled Kara into the ground again as she made vibrations in the earth upon impact. She elevated just as quickly as she fell, only to be kicked down by the woman. The clone then hovered down quickly and grabbed her by her dress, then hurtled her into another building, which Kara fell through with ease. Supergirl caught her breath for a moment, then rose again, launching forward and punching the woman repeatedly as she retaliated stronger. The fight went on for a few more minutes with Kara drastically overpowered by her stronger self; with the superhero growing weaker with the fight after every throw into a building and every impact to her bulletproof body. This woman was strong – stronger than anyone she could ever have imagined. The clone sped effortlessly to where Supergirl currently was, lying in the road with a crater to mark her presence. She lifted Kara up by her torn suit. "Next time, come up with your own dreams." She smiled menacingly. "But just for old time's sake… has my name happened to come to you yet?"

At the last word in her venomously saccharine sentence, Kara's eyes rolled helplessly back again and agonising images and harsh whispers projected only one thing. She woke up again seconds later in shock, staring at the woman above her. She growled. "Galatea."

"Perhaps this psychic thing isn't so bad after all…" she sneered. "Now I don't have to spell things out for your dumb alien brain. I can just watch you suffer and figure it out all at once…"

"You will be the downfall of this country!" Kara yelled, standing up and punching Galatea upwards as she flew. "I will _never_ let you lead this country; this world!"

"How empowering." Galatea groaned, airborne. "But don't worry, Supergirl. I'll come up with a consolidation prize…"

With that, she simpered and raced over to the highway. When the woman next saw Galatea, she was floating over a skyscraper as the people around her screamed from a distance and ran further. The superhuman hovered, holding a mega-sized car transporter stacked with trucks over her head, smirking. With enough height for the blow to be fatal to surroundings and people, she launched it at Kara. The Kryptonian didn't have time to think. She ran. She sprinted across the park and swooped civilians up, flying them to safety. She returned and evacuated surrounding office buildings, ridding them of people and sweeping them to the side. She looked around as the shadow of the car transporter towered overhead and, just before it hit the earth, she caught sight of a tiny child who had been missed from evacuation – a dark-skinned boy, maybe only five years old, who could only stare with wide eyes above him at the cars that were about to come towering down like meteor hailstones. As fast as she could, Kara sped over and, in a matter of milliseconds, covered the boy with her body and cape as she crouched down and towered above him, spreading her cape wide as the cars and machinery came crashing down around her. The impact of the metal weakened her as she squeezed her eyes shut and held the boy close, the metal colliding with her cape and bulletproof skin as the boy held on to her tightly, shaking. After the crashes and tremors had stopped, Supergirl finally moved from her tiny bent position and examined the boy amongst the rubble and dented metal. He was trembling with watery eyes. She was weak, and shuddering too as her body weakened. "Go." She whispered to the boy, running fingers over his cheek. "Find your parents – but stay hidden. The bad woman mustn't see you, alright?" The boy nodded, blinking down tears. Kara offered a feeble smile. "You're gonna be okay, I promise. Now run."

The boy manoeuvred past broken metal and shattering structures, running far away as fast as his skinny little legs could muster until he reached the open space and huddled over to the crowd of people some hundreds of yards away. Luckily, Galatea had no interest in killing him – she was already searching through rubble and broken metal to find her mirror image. Finally finding Supergirl trapped in the metal and groaning in weakness, she smirked and pulled Kara by her neck out of the metal. "It's a shame, really – how much you care for those silly humans." She shook her head, observing the woman pensively as her white attire remained pristine whereas Kara's costume was now torn and dirty. "Just think how powerful you could be without your meaningless compassion. Luckily, I was genetically engineered without it. I don't feel care for them. If you wanted to be a good person, you wouldn't either." She spoke huskily. "I don't have that moral trait, and look at me! I can kill people guilt-free; that power is a source of pride and an achievement. Only the weak are ashamed of such beauty." The corners of her mouth teased up, then grew firm as she tightened the grip around Kara's neck. She smirked. "I could kill you in a heartbeat if I wanted to… but where's the fun in that?"

Kara growled a strangled exhale, reaching up to Galatea's hands around her neck as she tried to pull them away, to no avail. "You're sick. I can't even understand how someone as manipulative as Maxwell Lord sees the good in you. Who are you really working for?"

"Even I can't tell you that." She sneered. "But Maxwell Lord is a dear old friend. He needed my expertise to take you down, piece by piece – make you realise the monster he knows you are." She lifted her head up as Kara gasped again. "Look around, _Supergirl_. You really think you're doing a good job at saving this city? It's in _shambles_. Your beloved people are fearing for their lives." Galatea snickered, shaking her head. "You have no idea, do you? It's lucky one of us has some brains." She threw Kara back into the metal as it bent around her. The clone began hovering over from above. "This is getting really boring… maybe next time you'll be a little more interesting. So long, _Supergirl_." The woman breathed with blazing, disgusted azure eyes, taking to the sky and flying straight into the clouds so Kara couldn't see where she was going. The girl had a feeling she wasn't just going back to Lord Technologies.

The woman caught her breath, heaving, and the images of the fight replayed themselves torturously in her brain. She desired to lift her head up to examine the damage around her – the regeneration the city would need to recuperate – and yet, every movement was agony. It seemed that the fight had definitely dampened her powers. In a few seconds, she heard a woman saying her name as the voice and the patter of footsteps got closer and closer, and the voice finally differentiated itself as Alex appeared above her in a haze. "Supergirl!"

"Alex…" The woman croaked as her sister slowly helped her up, her head throbbing and heart racing. She finally rose to her feet, albeit wobbly, as Alex supported her with her arms around her shoulders. The girl limped and winced in pain, taking the chance to examine her surroundings as her neck numbly twisted. Buildings had holes in them, but were luckily still standing. The previously luscious and green turf laying coating the area of the park was a different story – the metal structure of the car transporter dug deep into the mud and scarred the landscape. She bit her lip, breathing in a slight whimper. "I can't just leave the park like this…"

"You can play good cop later when your powers are recharged. You need sun and sleep." Her sister assured her as they made their way to the DEO vans parked in the alleyway. Kara winced at the destruction she and Galatea had caused and the fear they had inflicted on the people of her city. Even after long minutes, the superhero couldn't shake the image of the young boy out of her head. He had seemed so distraught, so fearful of his surroundings – she had saved him, but he would be impacted for the rest of his life. The woman looked down at the ground, at the cracks in the pavement, at her limping feet and scuffed up red boots, feeling incredible shame for herself.

"Are you alright, Supergirl?" Director Henshaw enquired as they drew closer to the vans. Some agents had already scurried off in black vans like hard-shelled insects, preparing for the new information they needed to analyse. Kara, meanwhile, did not take her eyes off the floor.

Alex sighed, deciding to answer for her despairing sister. "Just a sprain is all. Right Supergirl?"

Kara lifted her head up, nibbling on her lower lip in apprehension as her empty sapphire eyes finally gazed upwards and landed on the two men in front of her – Hank Henshaw took on his usual assured stance, crossing his arms so that defined muscles stuck out below his black polo shirt. The man next to him stood at roughly the same height, yet seemed smaller somehow, paler in shock and care for the fallen superhero. Adam's cheekbones stuck out as he gritted his teeth under firm lips nervously, his throat bobbing as he cast his eyes on her in worry. With a blink, that look was gone as Hank looked at him. Kara's lips attempted to rise at the corners into a miniscule smile, but yet, nothing came. She inhaled deeply through her nostrils, then nodded sheepishly before ducking past the two men and allowing Alex to escort her to the van.

* * *

 **I hope this super (pun unintended) long chapter somewhat makes up for not updating in two weeks… I'm sorry. School is hectic at the minute and I really needed to get that nailed first.**

 **So, you are all in-the-know about Kara's strange dreams and the identity of the mysterious test subject. I'm sorry if the storyline wasn't as clear as I had hoped. I did try to explain everything while still leaving a bit of mystery, but I don't yet know if I've succeeded. Please let me know what you thought in a review, it would mean the world! If you want to drop me any theories as to what will ensue from here on out I'd be open to that too ;)**

 **I hope you liked Galatea and the way I wrote her – I didn't come up with this storyline, just added a few embellishments for clarity, like increasing the effect the dreams had on Kara. The Galatea storyline is from the DC Animated Universe if you're interested! A few lines of dialogue were actually taken from the first Supergirl vs Galatea fight, too.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Beth/jennoists xx**


	8. Chapter 8

Anger didn't come close to describing the complete, deafening, blazing red resentment she felt. Walking onto the laboratory grounds, she was furious. Taking the elevator up to the top floor, she was fiery and unforgiving. Storming into his office as security guards dared to tread in her wake, she was unfathomably heated. Seeing his face – his stupidly peppered stubble and piercing cold eyes filled with nothing but faux emotions – her eyes flashed crimson. His voice pierced her veins and left her tensing out of disgust. "Agent Danvers, how lovely to-"

Within seconds, her feet were pounding down in strong steps on the floor as she moved closer and slapped, then propelled his face downwards into his desk with her elbow. Alex spat. "You son of a bitch."

Maxwell Lord groaned, peering up at her with penetrating eyes and mumbling under her elbow. "Is that your new catch phrase?"

She pressed her elbow down harder on his face. "What the hell is the matter with you? You could have killed her. All you wanted was to make a couple million bucks off herheritage, and when she refused, you almost _killed_ her! Again!"

Security swarmed in, rushing to the brunette woman, but Max creaked from underneath her hand. "At ease, gentlemen. Just having our weekly chat – why don't you just step outside." The armed men looked at each other and the bizarre situation before them, then slowly began to retreat backwards. Maxwell turned back to the woman towering above him. "Now, now, let's not let our emotions get the better of us, Agent Danvers." He grumbled. "If you had thought of the consequences beforehand like I warned you, we wouldn't be here, now would we?"

Alex fumed, flaring her nostrils. "I'm sorry that I didn't expect a genetically enhanced copy of my sister to appear and threaten the entire city." She muttered. "I'll look out for that next time. Now how about you explain what the hell is going on?"

"Sorry." The businessman raised his hands slightly under the strength of her arms. "I've been sworn to government secrecy."

"Bullshit!" Alex retorted, lowering her other hand to his arm, pinning him down further. "You're going to tell me what the hell is going on, or I'm afraid _I'm_ going to have to take precautions."

"I doubt that. Your precious sister is probably napping under that sun bed of hers." The man tried to tilt his face upwards under her arm. "How about you take your elbow off my face and then I'll consider?"

In one swift motion, Alex removed her elbow from the man's face and instead lodged her forearm under his neck. "Start talking."

"Well, not much I can say, so if you don't mind I'll keep this short before you cut off my circulation." He hitched, still managing to smile cruelly up at her. "Galatea is government property. I just gave a helping hand in starting her off, that's all – just a few of Supergirl's hairs and skin cells that innocently brushed off her cape from visits to my office a while back. I saved them – you know, just in case. But once I found out what they were doing at the labs, I grew intrigued. I visited her – Galatea – every week for a while. She was remarkable. We grew to be quite good friends – she makes a mean ratatouille-"

"Cut the crap, Max." Alex warned, gritting her teeth. "Why do you have this incessant desire to kill my sister?"

The man shrugged under her. "Not kill, just… take down a few pegs-"

"Bullshit." She spat again, tightening her grip. "Galatea said she was going to _kill_ Kara. Is that what you want? For her to be dead and for Lord Technologies to be the dominant lead of the city?"

"All I want is for her to realise that she's not always to be trusted, and that she causes a lot of destruction."

"You are such a hypocrite!" The brunette yelled. "Why the hell did you need to get a doubly strong clone of Kara to prove that?!"

"I just asked for Galatea's help."

"You just set an artificial Kara with a God complex out onto our city!"

"Oh, Galatea's not artificial-"

"Well whatever she is, she isn't going to stop. Or return to you. She's an adrenaline junkie, and she has been engineered to hate my sister. So whether you like it or not, you are going to fix this before she destroys everything that walks." She spoke coldly through gritted teeth, hands tightening.

"I would, believe me." The man smiled slightly, then tilted his hands up. "But my hands are tied. She isn't mine to control, I told you. She's government property."

Alex shook her head and leaned closer. "Then you do whatever the hell it takes to reverse what you've done, or you'll be sorry."

"In my defence, I didn't realise the extent of just how much Galatea wanted to kill her. And besides, as long as Galatea doesn't have some secret kryptonite or something, can't your sister heal?"

"I don't really want to depend on that alone." Alex muttered, then reiterated. "You will fix this or you will be sorry."

"Aren't the DEO doing anything to help?" Max smirked. "Or are you all swamped?"

Alex lay heavier pressure on the businessman. "It's none of your business. We aren't willing to cooperate with someone who started this mess in the first place – it's not really our thing." She spoke with venomous sarcasm. "Now get your ass to work for once in your life."

* * *

Dragging her feet up countless flights of stairs, Kara wondered how humans could possibly cope without the ability to fly – especially when there was no elevator. She suddenly wasn't surprised by how strong Adam was for a human now – the fact he lived on the twelfth floor explained it – it was just a shame that his apartment had no Supergirl-flap; to mask her identity and to compensate for the lack of a swift entrance, Kara had to take the stairs. Finally seeing the number twelve plastered on the wall to her right, she rolled her shoulders back in victory and trudged a few more steps to his apartment door – she had spent hours under the sun rays at the DEO, and yet still felt slightly drained. Despite her wavering energy, a smile teased as thoughts slowly shifted from remorseful flashbacks of earlier into current events, and the thought of seeing him again. It had been a long day, and from the look on his face earlier, she could tell he needed to see her. When he had invited her over after her nap under the sun lamps when no one was looking, she wasn't surprised. And so he slipped discreetly out and, after a few more hours, she got the all-clear from Doctor Hamilton, told Alex and followed.

Knocking on the door, the blonde woman was answered immediately with a frantic "coming!", before she heard some shuffling with the lock. Adam emerged and quickly slid around the door, keeping it slightly ajar behind him as he was now in the hallway with her, but blocking his apartment from view. He smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." The Kryptonian replied, raising an eyebrow. "What are you up to?"

The man shrugged. "Nothing."

She shook her head, chuckling. "You know, for someone whose whole life is basically one big secret, you're an awful liar."

He raised one eyebrow. "Don't look so smug. You're not exactly a lying Van Gogh either."

"I've been told." She spoke monotonously, then furrowed her eyebrows in worry. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am." He raised his shoulders again, not breaking eye contact with her. Her blue gaze grew wider and more intense, manipulating him softly. He groaned, weakening under her stare. "Okay… I may have done something. For you."

Her eyes grew confused and frantic in a heartbeat. " _For me_?"

"Yes. But it's not a big deal. I didn't think you'd want something, you know, big-dealy, after…"

"Yeah." She silenced, biting her lip down on a grin that he had done something for her, but eyes still concerned and intrigued. "Well can I see it?"

For a second Adam didn't answer, completely enthralled at how her face twisted into such contrasting emotions all at once – the underlying guilt and sorrow for what had happened, topped by a layer of confusion as excitement grew from underneath it. He snapped out of it at the sight of that confusion spreading to all of her features. "Oh! Um, yeah. Sure."

With that, he fumbled again with the doorknob and led her in, allowing her to be instantly drawn to the soft and warm surroundings. Blankets had been put over the couches and candles had been lit on the coffee table and in the open kitchen, with the radio playing a gentle song. Kara's complexion finally relaxed brightly into a tight-lipped smile, raising hands to her face as they threatened to tilt her glasses. "Oh my God, you didn't have to do this…"

"Sure I did. You've had a rough day – you needed it." He stepped around to face her, backing further into the apartment as she dropped her hands from her face and stepped closer to follow him, still looking around. "And besides, if the candles go out of control, you're like a living breathing fire-extinguisher."

Kara giggled, her nose scrunching up. "True." As the laugher died down, her smile grew relaxed again as her eyes glimmered up at him, nodding. "Thank you. This is really sweet."

"You are very welcome." He simpered, reaching forward and slowly sliding her glasses off the frame of her face as she looked up at him, closing her eyes slightly and smiling wider as he tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear gently, eyelids fluttering as he moved in for an assured but soft kiss. They broke away after a few seconds as her hands slid up to his chest, just as a colossal noise rose from her stomach. He laughed, resting his forehead on hers as she flushed crimson. She was enormously hungry. "Yeah, that's the other thing." He chuckled, breaking away from her to twist around the kitchen counter, reaching for two sizeable bags of takeout.

Kara's mouth grew agape in giddy excitement and surprise as she fought the urge to jump up and down. Adam turned around, reading her expression and turning back smugly, then walking over to the lounge area as she trailed behind, enthralled by the scent of food as her stomach grumbled again. She stated the obvious. "God, I'm starving."

"I guessed." He mocked playfully as he placed the large bags of takeout on the coffee table and manoeuvred around to the other side, kneeling on the carpet to reach into them. Kara sat opposite him, crossed-legged, gaping at the food as it came out of the bag, hypnotising her.

Adam looked up from his actions, raising his eyebrows at the woman before him as her eyes grew wide and warm at the sight of each item. "I'm guessing you love potstickers."

"More than I love people." Kara spoke instantaneously. "And I save people for a living."

The man sneered. "Technically, you tolerate my mother for a living – Supergirl is just some crazy volunteer work."

But Kara wasn't listening. Instead, she was diving into the first container, tearing off the lid before rummaging, with super-speed, through Adam's kitchen in the search for chopsticks. In the blink of an eye, she was before him, handing him a pair of chopsticks and giving him a peck on the cheek. She returned to sit on the floor opposite him, grabbing a blanket from the couch behind her and wrapping it around her shoulders. "Thank you so much."

Adam's smile grew into a chuckle as he shook his head, reaching for another container and tearing it open.

For the next ten minutes, Adam ate through the food slowly, watching in awe as Kara munched giddily at practically double the speed, only breaking away for breath, or to look up at him thankfully, or to emit an agreeable humming sound. She wasn't kidding when she said she loved food more than people. He grinned, biting his lip and put his chopsticks down for a second. The woman before him smiled youthfully with her mouth full, then furrowed her eyebrows at the fact he had momentarily stopped. "What's up?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Just happy."

She swallowed. "Happy?"

"Happy that you're happy." He specified, looking between the food and her delighted face, thinking back to hours before at her body, lilting and limping, with rueful eyes that had grown dull. He had hated feeling so helpless, so realising that he had made her face become bright and radiant again evoked a smug and valuable feeling. A feeling of gratitude.

She grinned and hummed happily in exhalation. "Well, then I'm happy that you're happy… that I'm happy." The blonde woman teased. "Although I hope you realise that my happiness at the moment is probably only ten percent from you. Ninety percent the potstickers."

He raised an eyebrow, smirking. "You're bluffing."

Kara blushed. "Okay. Thirty to seventy."

Adam rolled his eyes, trying not to smile as he picked up his chopsticks again. "For that, I'm fighting you for the last potsticker."

"No you aren't." The superhero warned seriously, pointing her chopsticks at him.

He sneered, reaching forward teasingly to the lone dumpling in the middle of the table at snail's pace.

Her eyes grew wide, the cerulean colour piercing into him. "Do it and I will melt your face."

"I've had a rough day too, you know. Today I had to fill out so much paperwork." He moaned, pouting as his hand got ever closer to the food.

Her eyes relaxed as she spoke matter-of-factly. "A genetically copied and enhanced version of me kicked my butt through buildings and threw a car transporter at my head."

There was a silence for agonising seconds as the pair became silent and the only sound emerged from the radio in the kitchen and the echoes of cars on the streets outside. Adam glanced at his girlfriend as her eyes remained, relaxed in nonchalance but unmoving, glimmering slightly in caution. He huffed and retracted his hand. "Fine. But you're not allowed to use that again."

She smirked, reaching forward and sticking her tongue out as she grasped the dumpling with her chopsticks, reclining back into the foot of the sofa as she took a bite out of it and giggled. Within a few seconds, the entire thing was in her mouth and she was munching happily as Adam watched in fake anger. There was silence for a second besides the radio as another song ended, until a news segment sliced through and blasted in comparison.

"… _the site of impact was National City Park, where Supergirl faced her threat and was significantly weakened. There were no casualties, but experts say the repairs and regeneration needed to restore buildings and the park landscape could take years. After the fight, Supergirl disappeared and has not been seen since, raising the question: where is our Girl of Steel? And will she be back to face the colossal damage she has caused?"_

Kara looked down, swallowing hard against the guilt she felt sliding down her throat. She blinked slowly. Her heartbeat raised.

" _We interviewed people on the scene as they reflected on what had happened and how it could impact their children. A young boy, aged five, speaks of how Supergirl saved his life."_

" _I saw the big trucks coming,"_ the little boy began as Adam looked worriedly at Kara, who was looking underneath the table with her knees curling up in a foetus position, resting her chin on her knee. _"And I didn't know what was going to happen or where my mommy was. Supergirl was getting people away from the bad woman. Just before the big trucks hit me, she hugged me tight and I heard these big crashes around me. I was so scared and Supergirl was too. She told me to run away from the bad woman. She seemed sad."_ He whimpered and spoke without pausing.

The reporter returned to speak as it amplified ceaselessly through the room. _"The flying woman looked very similar to the Girl of Steel, and it seemed like Supergirl was clueless and unprepared as she was faced with this new alien threat. The question remains: what will our heroine do next? Will she crack under the pre-"_

Adam picked the remote to the radio up rapidly and pointed at the machine, changing the channel quickly to a slower-sounding station. Putting the remote down quietly, he looked at Kara. She remained unmoved, with numb eyes shifting, watching the floor in front of her, a pale hand still on the table that had weakly dropped the chopsticks. The man exhaled quietly, afraid that any new sound would make things worse, and leaned inwards, reaching over and taking her hand. His thumb gently grazed over the soft skin, as he thought about what to do next; what to say. Kara remained impassive. Adam exhaled again, then started, perforating the still air in the room with a whisper. "Kara, it's not your fault."

"I failed them." She spoke without looking up. She blinked again slowly. "I tried to stop her, and I couldn't."

"No one could have stopped her." He breathed. "Not even you. But you will. We'll stop her."

Kara moved finally, shaking her head slowly as she gradually sucked in a breath. "I felt so useless. I haven't felt that useless since I first arrived on earth."

She looked up after a few seconds, finally, remorsefully, watching as Adam looked at her. He was desperate to make her feel better, but he couldn't fathom how. What had happened had knocked his confidence, too. From his brown eyes gazing at her warmly, his gentle grip on her hand squeezing ever-so-slightly tighter and his thumb continuing to graze her skin, she could sense he wanted her to continue. Right there and then was when Kara realised that across their broken time together, she had never told Adam about her past. It wouldn't make her feel better in the moment, but she knew it was worth more. It was worth him knowing.

"When I was a child, my parents sent me away from Krypton just before it perished along with everyone and everything on it. My mom and dad did die in a fire, I didn't lie to you back then. But it wasn't a house fire. They died protecting me and Krypton burst into flames around them." She looked at their hands, and the gentle movements of his thumb. "The shock of the explosion knocked my pod off course and I spent years in the phantom zone, an area in space where time doesn't pass. When I arrived on earth, the cousin I had been sent to protect in the first place had already grown up. He was already saving people. I had no purpose on earth anymore." Kara swallowed, her voice growing quieter. "I was welcomed into the Danvers family, but Alex hated me at first and I was an outsider. I didn't have powers on Krypton – it was the earth's sun that gave me all these powers, so when I arrived, I wasn't used to them. I couldn't control my x-ray vision and the world around me was so painful to look at. I couldn't understand why Alex resented me. I had to hide my powers and learn to suppress them to feel normal, but that's still something I've never felt. For a long time, I had no one. I missed my parents and my life every day… things got better after a while, of course, but at first I didn't know what to do with myself." The blonde woman opened her eyes fully, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear tentatively and finally looking up to read Adam's reaction. He nibbled on his lip, looking helpless but so badly wanting to help. For a few seconds, the silence reigned victorious and mocked them, before she interrupted it again with an apology. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't be." Adam finally spoke, murmuring softly as he leaned forward. Kara lifted her head off her shoulder and moved herself to sit cross-legged again. The man watched her nervous shuffling as it prompted him to continue. "I'm glad you told me, and it means a lot that you trust me with your past life." He breathed. "I'm so sorry that happened, Kara… I can't imagine what that must have been like." He needed to comfort her, and he would – but he was intrigued by this life that he had never known. "Do you ever wish you could go back?"

She closed her eyes. "All the time." Kara swallowed again, then looked up at him. "But I have a life here now. I love saving people and protecting them, and if I had never been here, I would never have met Alex, or my foster parents, or Hank, or Cat… or you." She smiled sadly as Adam reciprocated, leaning closer with a bittersweet smile. She continued, looking down again at their tangled hands. "I felt helpless for a long time then, but… until today… I never felt like that again."

"You are doing everything you possibly can to keep this city safe, and it shows. You can see it in the hope you've given people, and that isn't just something you can take away. It will stay there, because you put it there." He smiled softly and assuredly as Kara looked up, afraid of his feelings not being true. He sensed her apprehension, and yearned to eradicate it. "And you are worth so much to people. You mean so much to them – and me, too." At her frail grin, he crawled over to her side of the table and took her slowly in his arms, sliding hands over her blanket-covered waist, kissing her temple. "And you're not helpless, Kara. You're the most caring person I've ever known."

Kara smiled up at him through half-shut eyes as the warmth slowly returned to her face, reaching up and brushing her nose against his cheek clumsily before sinking down and resting between his jaw and his neck, twisting her body towards him and wrapping her arms around his torso. Adam bent his face down to her and caught the tip of her nose in a peck, causing her to giggle lethargically, leaning up slightly and finding his lips, brushing against them with her own into a soft yet ardent kiss for a minute or two. It was long overdue after a day of no contact, except for the early morning rush out of her apartment after the quivering night before. She squeezed her eyes shut, blocking the thoughts out of her head for a while as he pulled her up a little bit and kissed her back. For a while after the kiss they stayed, holding each other, with Kara's breathing puffing softly from her nose against the nape of his neck. After long minutes, a song came on. Kara smiled in reminiscence.

"My foster parents loved The Smiths. They told me all about the "great music of earth's time", so as a result, I grew up listening to indie rock classics, all of the greats like David Bowie too… but my favourite was The Smiths. Didn't stand me good stead in high school," she remarked with a grimace. "But it comforted me."

Adam smiled, drawing her closer, before an idea popped in his head, causing a dramatic change in tempo. "Dance with me."

Kara snorted. "What?"

"Come on. On your feet." He commanded, breaking away from her and standing, lowering a hand to her.

"Oh, no no no no. No."

He pouted. "Please?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "I am a superhero – not a dancer."

"It doesn't matter." He dismissed, shaking her head. "I'm not quitting."

"No." She repeated firmly.

Adam grabbed her arms as she resisted, whining. "Look, obviously you would kick my ass with no contest, so help me out."

"I'm not dancing!" She protested.

"It won't be _dancing_ …" The man mumbled. "It'll just be like… swaying. Like at proms and stuff."

"I didn't go to prom." Kara remarked as Adam tried to pull her up.

"Well, all the more reason to get up then." He breathed, finally bringing her to her feet as he led them into a more open space. When they stopped, Kara looked lost all around her, and with a roll of his eyes, Adam helped. He took her hands and put them behind his head, so that her forearms balanced on his shoulders. He smoothed his hands over her waist. Kara relaxed her arms and intertwined her hands behind his neck. Adam smiled. "See?"

"This isn't exactly dancing though." She observed.

"Did you expect me to get up and start doing the Charleston?"

Kara giggled. "No, but I would _love_ to see that. Maybe tomorrow?"

He paused, still swaying slightly with her as their heads were in close proximity. He looked her in the eyes. "The chances of me doing the Charleston at any point in my life from this point forward are about as slim as me beating you in an arm wrestling tournament."

She pouted, then leaned forward slightly and pressed her right temple against his left. Adam seemed taken aback, but warmed to the feeling of her nose on his cheek. She closed her eyes and seemed serene as the mourning lyrics of _This Night Has Opened My Eyes_ swooned with the silky vocals, and for a while Adam just watched her let go after reflecting on past and present misfortunes. Hopelessly whipped, he joined her and closed his eyes, relaxing his arms around her waist as they swayed. They stayed like that for a minute more, until the song drew to a close and Kara's eyes fluttered open again. She omitted a closed-mouth giggle, as Adam looked at her, biting his lip slightly. She moved her head so it was central to him, and opened her mouth slightly, thinking of what to say, but the words flowed out of her mouth before they even rose to her head. "Thank you… for taking my mind of things."

He raised an eyebrow. "So am I a little more than thirty percent your current happiness now?"

"Totally. Maybe like… forty-five to fifty-five." The blonde spoke with a deadly straight face, but as Adam rose one hand to her face and kissed her softly again, the smile found its way back. And then she began thinking.

Thinking of how serene the relationship had been and how she'd never been so intimate and meaningful with someone in just a few weeks. Thinking about how she had imagined it to be so much harder than it actually had been. Of course there had been hardships; of course there had been difficult moments – there always will be – but the nature of every moment had flowed. The only things that hadn't were times when they had to hold back; when they had to conceal emotions for the sake of themselves. Reflecting on weeks up until the past hour as he pulled away and kissed her again, she had grown incredibly lost in an emotion she had never felt before. The feeling of being adored by someone else in this way was foreign, and so she searched around; she looked, and it left her with an impractical urge to pull away and say those three words, softly, defencelessly. Kara was helpless to what she was feeling, and yet, she tried to fight against what she was thinking, chastising her own judgements. He would not feel the same. He would not say it back. Even if he did, what would happen after that? Oh great, they're in love. Isn't that fantastic. But if they are only together when they are alone together, the repercussions have already been set up – disastrous, meteorite repercussions that exist only for those who least deserve it. Sneaking around had no place for love. Stolen glances had no place for love. Alone together, at night, swaying to The Smiths and enjoying the other's company had no place for love.

They pulled away for good and Kara bit her lip, looking hazily at him as if the thoughts had never entered her mind. The afterthoughts tried to barge in to replace them as she examined his face, connecting all of the little dents and freckles. Adam looked at her as if she was something that had floated in from a dream, his eyes half-shut as he smiled slightly. She could sense from his expression that his mind had not been plagued with _those_ thoughts yet. And why would it be? It had been a matter of weeks, not months. No one could be sure of adoration and affection that early on, surely. And so she masked over her thought-process. It had never happened. Her naivety had simply taken over.

Her next words were punctuated with faux seriousness. ""Now, I'm assuming you got me dessert."

Adam chuckled, smoothing his hands back from around her waist and grabbing one hand instead. "I would never forget." He spoke as he began walking to the freezer with Kara in tow, skipping behind him and giggling like a child.

* * *

"Galatea is an exact genetic copy of Supergirl, but with double the concentration of her superhuman abilities; she has also been engineered so that she is unable to feel guilt and lacks a moral conscience. As a result she is dangerous, so beware when within proximity of her. Galatea was also created and trained under a confidential government-run laboratory which is not named." Hank spoke with a grave tone, his eyes peering around to his fellow troops and the caped superhero among them as they had all been called to an early-morning briefing the next day. He continued. "Currently, there is no way to predict when or where her next attack will strike, but she's out to take down Supergirl, and we have reason to believe it could be incredibly soon. Due to the exact genetic make-up, Galatea actually has the ability to invade Supergirl's subconscious if and when she pleases. The subconscious thoughts have the ability to weaken Supergirl, but can also weaken Galatea half as much. Similarly, we need double the power to take her down, as she is genetically engineered to be twice as strong."

As he opened questions to his fellow agents, they began to brainstorm. "This clone must have a weakness. If we found the lab or managed to examine her biology, we could determine a more tactical approach to defeating her." Vasquez suggested.

Hank raised one hand up to his face while the other remained crossed over his torso. He shook his head. "Although that would seem the most objective way to discover her weakness, I'm afraid we don't have time. Tracking down the top-secret lab could be virtually impossible, and likewise there is no way to hack anything to find Galatea's biological structure."

"If kryptonite weakens Supergirl, surely that would mean it also weakens Galatea. If we need double the concentration, why not use multiple kryptonite weapons or emitters instead of just one?" Another agent suggested.

"If we are trying to disarm Galatea during a fight with Supergirl, emitters could cause Supergirl to lose her powers in battle – the same goes for multiple kryptonite weapons. And if her cells are double as strong, our kryptonite will only weaken her half as much-"

"Unless-" Alex started.

Hank paused, then raised his eyebrows and turned to her. "Unless?"

"Unless we manipulate the structure of kryptonite and enhance it to double the concentration. Like a double kryptonite." She continued, looking around briefly to a few other agents and to Kara. "That way, we only have to use one bullet, but it would disarm Galatea just as much as normal kryptonite would to Supergirl."

Hank nodded. "Alright. We'll attempt manipulating the structure first and come back to other plans if needed. Get to work."

As the group broke away, Kara risked a glance at the man a few feet away from her, biting her lip. For some reason, ignoring him since spending the night again together and waking up in each other's company had seemed more difficult now than ever before. In hopeless frustration, she watched as he glanced back at her and forward again, before following other agents away from the central base and smiling to himself. Watching, Kara managed a small discreet grin of her own, before walking over to Alex. "Hey, can we train? I think other than being half as strong, one of the main reasons for my failure yesterday was that I forgot most of my fighting technique in the heat of the moment."

Alex looked at her as they walked to the labs. "As much as I'd love to kick your ass for scaring me so much yesterday… I can't. I have to do this kryptonite stuff. Maybe later, though?"

Kara huffed. "Don't worry, it's fine. You need to work. I'll just train with Adam."

Alex nodded, then mumbled. "Just remember that training room has a window, alright?"

The blonde rolled her eyes and elbowed Alex in the ribs, then walked away, leaving her sister to stroll into her lab. She turned, finding Adam across the room, and swayed over with purpose. "Hey." She smiled quietly as Adam looked up from his work, slightly taken aback.

"H-Hey." He smiled, looking around him cautiously. Hank wasn't far – he was at the screens and had turned away from them to hypothesise, thinking to himself. Adam turned back around. "Do you need something?"

"I was just wondering if you could help me train." Kara spoke naively, fluttering between eye contact and around them. "I really need to work on my combat if I _am_ weakened in battle."

"Um, sure." He nodded, standing up, looking around them before walking with her. She smiled and followed him to the training room.

Hank watched blindly as something about their stealthily surreptitious behaviour irked him. Intrigued and concerned, he excused himself and followed the pair.

Having arrived in the training room, Adam held the door open for Kara, then locked it behind them. He licked his lips and turned to her as she paced. "Is everything okay?"

The woman turned around and faced him, playing with a strand of blonde hair out of nervousness. "I guess. I mean… I'm scared." She huffed. "You're all putting your lives in danger for this so fast… it's not your battle. It's mine."

Adam walked over to her slowly. "Kara… we're agents. Our whole lives are based around danger for the sake of another's safety." She pursed her lips, looking up at him. "We're all going to take her down together. It's what we do – and it's what you do too, right?"

Kara bowed her head slightly, nodding, then looked up. She huffed. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt for me. It's happened before, and I just feel so guilty afterwards…"

"Putting our own lives at risk is what DEO agents do best." He smirked before his expression softened. "Kara… it's not your fault if people get hurt. You're doing everything we can, and it's us who are going on the firing line. It's not your responsibility."

The caped superhero looked down. "I guess… It's just, you know-"

"I know." He nodded. "But it's gonna be okay, I promise. We have a plan." He smiled, stepping ever closer to her. "Now, would you like to get your ass kicked by yours truly?"

"You better wish those kryptonite emitters don't glitch." Kara teased with cunning eyes and raised eyebrows, giggling. She smiled slightly, looking up at him again, releasing her lip slowly from between her teeth. As he smirked back and jogged over to the emitters, Kara felt herself weaken even before the kryptonite dosage turned on. As she stepped onto the platform, she squeezed her eyes shut, needing to say something at least, even if it wasn't the raw truth in all its entirety. She exhaled through her nostrils, turning to the back of him as he toyed with the monitors. "You know it's also getting a lot harder for me to pretend like I don't think about you all the time, right?"

It was a bold statement, and one that didn't go unnoticed as he turned slowly around, eyes unmoving off her as she took a few steps forward and off the podium. His gaze was still but brightening by the second as she stepped towards him, her apprehensive look growing into a nervous grin. Adam's perplexed look relaxed as she began to smile, and her expression reflected on him as she leaned up on tiptoes with eyes slightly open for a peck on the lips that only lasted a second. Feeling cheated at the brief contact, he leaned down a few centimetres to initiate a second kiss, tenderer and more passionate than the last as he smoothed his hands down to her waist and Kara kept her hands between them on his torso. Eventually, the man's hand navigated upwards and played with the golden strands of her hair as one remained on her back; Kara followed, smoothing one hand up his body to his jaw. Smiling through the changes now, the woman took a careful step forward, making Adam brush against the wall behind him – he responded by deepening the kiss more and then softening it quickly, pulling away and returning to graze with a gentle peck before pulling away completely. She smiled as her eyes flickered open to watch Adam as he pulled away after minutes of embracing her. He turned to his left and switched on the emitters fully with one hand still on her waist before stepping up onto the platform with her as they began pacing.

His eyes settled on the sight as helpless emotions bombarded him, invading the space around him until it fizzled relentlessly into anger. Hank Henshaw had watched in bitter realisation; had watched as they embraced and grew livid at the thought of it all. He gritted his teeth, eyes blazing red as he watched the pair fight now, throwing punches and kicks and teasing each other in between training. The man could not fathom his own blindness to the situation that had stared him in the face as he reflected and joined everything together for himself now. Hank shook his head as he stepped away, hands curling ever so slightly into fists, protective anger pumping through his veins as he marched to Alex's lab. He did not like to be made a fool, and did not like to be kept waiting either. Most of all, he did not want to watch as two people threw themselves head first into something that could only end in disaster.

* * *

 **My chapters are so long nowadays omg what is this… perhaps I'm just really procrastinating off schoolwork?**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Fluffy with a twist at the end. Next chapter is action packed too so look out for that ASAP (next weekend at the earliest). For the most part I'm happy with how this turned out.**

 **Hmm, "confidential government-run laboratory"… doesn't that sound a bit like… Cadmus? (evil laugh)**

 **Until next time,**

 **Beth/jennoists xx**

 **(P.S. The Smiths are awesome. I love them. And** _ **This Night Has Opened My Eyes**_ **makes me cry. That is all.)**


	9. Chapter 9

Hank's eyes strained along with the muscles in his body and the pounding, vituperative veins passing through them as his eyes cast over the members of the base and found Alex in her lab, crouched over with squinting eyes through a microscope. Lowering his head, he looked around through his eyebrows with a face of stone, before appearing at her door. "Agent Danvers, is there something you need to tell me?"

"Kryptonite extraction and manipulation seems like a straightforward procedure once I've isolated the chemical structure," Alex spoke, not turning around. She paused. "Why?"

"I just walked past the training room. Anything you want to tell me now?"

The woman froze, then slowly lifted her head up to face J'onn – his back was leaning against the door frame, his muscular arms crossed, his teeth clenched. Alex furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would I?"

"You do remember I can read minds, Alex?"

She gulped, then looked down, averting eye contact. "Right…"

He stepped closer, eyes blazing. "When Agent Foster first came and Kara pestered me with all of those questions… the way he always excuses himself to train with her or to check up on her… they were lovers, weren't they?"

The brunette slowly turned her head back down, resting her arm on either side of the table. "I wouldn't exactly say that. They'd been on 2 dates and Kara felt pressured to break it off because of Supergirl. It was more like… unfinished business."

Hank pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw. "How long has this been going on, Alex?"

She huffed, still looking below her. "Three weeks, maybe four."

The new information turned the man ablaze as he grinded his teeth. He did not like secrets to be kept from him, let alone in a place he knew so well – a place he spent his life, a place he cared about, a place surrounded by people he needed to trust. J'onn failed to conceal his anger as his bitter tone resonated in the air. "Why did you feel you had to conceal this… impractical affair from me?"

"I gave Kara my word." Alex persevered wearily, turning around. "She was so afraid that you'd find out. I knew he made her happy-"

"Happy?!" He boomed, stepping closer and dropping his arms from his torso. "You lied to protect this fantasy life they're stuck in – this ethically stunted, precarious flirting – all so _she_ was _happy_?"

"It's harmless-" Alex scoffed.

Hank shook his head and cut her off firmly. "It's unethical. And it's against organisation rules."

"Hank – J'onn – please… I didn't instantly let them off – they didn't even tell me. I found out myself. But Kara seemed so upset at the thought of losing him again, and her and Adam both told me that they would work on it and make sure it wasn't an issue…" Alex shrugged. "And I kind of insinuated that if they weren't careful, I'd tell you immediately. I signed an oath to this task force," The woman breathed, looking up firmly to her boss. "But Kara's happiness is my priority too."

"This may be what Kara wants, but it's impractical. It's unethical. Frankly, it's not what she or anyone needs right now." He dismissed, then raised his voice. "We've got a killer Kryptonian clone on our hands, Alex! Your sister being in some confused, romantic trance isn't exactly going to help us."

By now Alex was growing passionate with her argument and tired at her leader's one-sided, objective views. Even as she knew what he was saying had truth, she continued in her defence as her heartbeat pounded against her ribcage. "Yes, but Adam is helping! Without Adam, we wouldn't even have half the information we do right now about Galatea." She paused. "Adam is a professional. He'd never let his relationship with Kara get in the way of work."

"How can you be so sure?" He pressed, shaking his head and looking to the side of her. "This is dangerous – I can't just watch while those two frolic around and kill themselves in the process!"

Alex matched his frantic pitch. "I wasn't approving of this either, but J'onn- he cares for her. He would never let anything happen to her. He makes her happy, he makes her calm – she told me he makes her better. Isn't a calm hero what we need amongst all this?"

"Not when their heads are stuck in la-la-land and they can't fight." Hank retorted venomously.

"Come on, sir – they haven't done any harm."

"I'm not going to simply wait around until the sirens go off, Alex. This is dangerous regardless of how simple it seems. I can't have either of them wound up and distracted, and I need to take precautions before something happens-"

"Before _what_ happens?" She persisted. "I know you're protective over Kara, and you're insensitive to all this because of what happened to you and your loved ones," the mention of the topic made the man's body momentarily loosen in weakness. "But breaking them up is just going to make matters worse right now. You talk to them, force them apart – and then what? Kara is preoccupied and heartbroken for this battle, and Adam's concentration is compromised. What if someone gets hurt then?"

"That's absurd." The man scorned, crossing his arms over his built torso again. Alex paused, looking up at how much he wanted to protect her and her sisters – how he would change and alter in a heartbeat, even sacrifice someone from his force in order to keep them safe from any harm. She knew by now that the latter was in vain; that, doing what she did, it was beyond inevitability that Kara would be hurt. Being hurt was, in many ways, part of being a hero. Hurt allowed compassion, and compassion was what separated Kara from all the other people using their abilities for good. She empathised with victims, because she herself knew hurt, and protecting her from hurt was a lost cause. Alex could not stop Kara hurting – not Alex, not Adam, not Hank. And truthfully, a relationship with Adam would not change any part of that.

"J'onn, nothing has changed." Alex inhaled hopelessly, her breath threatening to catch in her windpipe as she tensed at the confrontation and the constant trepidation of things falling apart. Reminiscing of times she had seen them together, it was visible that Kara was dazed when around him, during the times when her sister had been a witness at least – goofy smiles, pain-inducing laughter, tangled limbs and ardent but miniscule kisses amongst the eye of her watchful sister. Retrospectively, Alex was lying through her teeth when she had spat out that nothing has changed – things had. But it had almost entirely changed for the better, and in all truth, Alex would have feared for her sister more if Adam hadn't been there for support as well as herself, amongst all that was going on. She bit her lip. No one could stop Kara from hurting, but comfort was the next step of assistance. Of course she feared that things would escalate and spiral into danger – she dreaded that with all that was in her as it hung over like a dark, reigning reminder – and yet forcing them to break apart would only make things spiral faster. The woman exhaled. "Please, just hear them out. You give them commands, and they trust you with everything. A little reciprocation wouldn't hurt."

The man clenched his jaw, his throat bobbing, then let his arms sway assuredly at his sides. "We'll talk about this later." He grumbled before stomping with certainty through Alex's lab door.

* * *

Just an hour later, Kara was walking with shaking legs through the CatCo building, on-edge and unpacified by all the lights and reports around her as each and every one reminded her of the overhanging enemy just waiting to launch forward. She nibbled on her lip, afraid of her future and what was lying ahead, amazed at how things had already twisted out of shape, all before 8am – her and Adam had been rudely awakened by a call from Alex about an early-morning briefing, she had sparred with Adam, and then had restored as much of National City Park as she could before jetting off to work. She dreaded what was still to come with the slow-moving day, made even slower and more tedious with her own muddled thoughts and unpreparedness.

Looking around before giving a blast of heat to Cat's latte with her laser vision, she quickly slid her glasses back onto her frame in a hurry as the Queen of All Media herself exited from her elevator in exhausted nonchalance. Flustered, the blonde took a few more steps over to her boss in squeaking ankle boots, extending her arm to pass Cat her beverage. She tried a somewhat surreptitious smile. "Good morning, Miss Grant."

Cat raised an eyebrow, taking the drink dismissively as she sashayed into her office. Kara hurriedly picked up a notepad and pen before following. "Kira, your annoyingly chipper attitude and the stench of your sickly-sweet perfume aren't as overbearing this morning, which I'm assuming is a pathetic yet unintentional cry for help. Who died?"

The Kryptonian raised her eyebrows, then relaxed and furrowed them in conflict with herself, watching as her boss slid into her desk chair. "Nothing, Miss Grant. Everything is…" Cat's rolled eyes punctuated that the woman's lying was in vain, and so Kara swayed her words. "I guess I'm just worried about this… um…" Kara pursed her lips, then shook her head and fixed her glasses back on her nose nervously. "This evil villain seen with Supergirl yesterday."

"Oh, me too, believe me." Cat spoke, although her attitude contrasted and told a different story. As she filed through documents, she continued with her monotonous yet distinct tone. "This new evil match of Supergirl's is such a pain to name – her outfit and monologues were so unoriginal that I can't think of what to brand her at all – and I've already named an evil opposite of Supergirl. It would be a crime to repeat."

"I'm sure the people of this city aren't that picky about names-" Kara began to assure, and yet one look from Cat as the woman peered up from her paperwork was enough to silence her completely.

The older blonde looked back down at her work, stating matter-of-factly: "If there is one thing we can learn from Melania Trump, Kira, it's that repeated words are better left unsaid."

Kara nodded, then nibbled on her lip as she tapped her pencil against the top of her pad, staring into space as thoughts plagued her again of what to do and when – she needed to act, but how would she throw Galatea off with only half of the strength and powers? How would she fend for herself when her opponent could kill her in mere seconds?

Her boss rolled her eyes and breathed. "If you're going to stand there exhaling restlessly all day then you'd better move my therapist appointment forward a few hours."

The woman gasped, fumbling with her glasses again and apologising in muffled embarrassment before fleeting out of her room, left to mope at her desk.

It was midday as the sun streamed through the glass windows of the building, making Cat's nervous employees even more flustered as they worked restlessly to please their boss. Kara was no exception as she filed through prints in the copying room, sorting them into piles on the table and labelling each. She was writing another set of numbers on a sticky note before the pen slipped involuntarily from her hand, leaving a dented wobble of ink as it slid down. The woman grunted hopelessly and tried to control her shaking hand, her mind racing with a thousand apprehensions, until all were silenced at once and replaced.

Her eyes rolled back, the first part of her to be weakened as her legs threatened to collapse underneath her. She clenched her jaw and gritted her teeth, wincing, her hands desperately pressing against the table and making small dents in the process as she tried to hold herself up. The black abyss she couldn't help but stare into began curling, twisting, screaming, becoming images as the white noise scraped her skull and momentarily deafened her, drowning out all other sensations. The images ghosting her brain began to clear in unwanted visibility.

 _Galatea smirked, flying as her streamlined outfit made for effortless travel, slicing through the air. She began to swoop down, sneering, homing in on a tattered building in isolation._

Kara pressed her lips together firmly as psychotic whispers flooded inwards, a new sensation as they echoed and pierced through her visions, the sounds agonising and ghostly. _"Come out, come out, wherever you are, Supergirl…"_

In seconds, Kara was blinking rapidly as the images, piercing noises and horrifying darkness grew less intense, but remained. She was breathless; hopeless. Looking around her, disturbed, she fumbled with her phone in her back pocket and held it up to her ear as the woman on the other side answered almost immediately. "What's up?"

"It's her. She's trying to call me out."

Alex's heart skipped a beat and her stomach dropped. Hurriedly, she left the weaponry room where she had been stocking the double-kryptonite bullets and jogged to the centre of the base, over to the screens, where Hank and Vasquez were trying desperately to locate the enemy. She put the call on speakerphone so the two could hear. "Do you know where she wants you to go?"

Kara's mouth twitched as it dawned on her that she would have to embrace the images and sounds in order to find a location. Inhaling deeply, she shut her eyes, trying to focus on the painful screeching and visions as they twisted in between each other and interweaved in a haunting mess through her mind, until finally they began to clear as the white noise intensified. She saw Galatea, landing now, in an abandoned warehouse factory outside the city, filled with metallic structures. "The abandoned warehouse outside the city." She gulped, blinking rapidly again, adrenaline increasing as the images began to fade. Amongst all feelings of pain and fear of meeting her stronger double, she began to experience some strange determination. "Get the team ready. I'm going."

"Kara, wait-" Alex shouted into the phone, but her sister had already gone. She sighed nervously, then marched out into the grounds, yelling for people to get ready as she prepared the weapons and put on her own gear. In seconds, agents were marching around the base gathering gear and tech while Vasquez remained by the monitors, trying to get a visual on the warehouse.

Within a few minutes, all frontline agents were ready with their black armour and gathered around the centre of the base for the abrupt briefing from Hank, marching behind him as they began to exit the grounds. "Since the threat is twice as strong as Supergirl, we need to disarm her with double the effort – that means double the dosage required to weaken her. To give us a shot at taking down Galatea, Agent Danvers has genetically engineered kryptonite to twice its usual concentration and manipulated the substance into bullets. You each have one bullet. This is because if we have too much of these bullets on site, the attacker could detect the substance and we'd lose the element of surprise – not to mention, it could weaken Supergirl during battle. We'll be approaching the battle from a distance, undercover. Supergirl will attempt to detain the subject and, when she's vulnerable, then I will pick one person to take the shot. Who that is depends on availability. Remember, the kryptonite dose is twice as strong, so _do not_ under _any_ circumstances approach Supergirl while armed. Do I make myself clear?"

Adam clenched his jaw, only a metre behind Hank as they marched. "Surely a double dose of kryptonite could hurt Supergirl when we shoot Galatea if they're in close proximity? What could it do if we accidentally shot her instead?" He found himself speaking anxiously as he moved closer to his boss, not wanting to know the answer.

Henshaw furrowed his eyebrows, tensing at the obvious care the agent had for Kara. He was reminded of his new found knowledge. "Agent Foster, may I remind you we're all specially trained agents?"

The man persisted. "But surely if this was a huge risk for her health, we'd need to find an alternative? Our job is to keep Supergirl safe-"

"Our job is to protect the city against extranormal threats." Hank corrected, interrupting the man in a warning tone. "We simply don't have the time to find an alternative. No one is going to shoot at Supergirl because we're all trained shooters." He almost yelled. Adam seemed taken aback, but still fretted relentlessly over the possibility of Kara getting hurt. He glanced at Alex, walking alongside him and looking just as unsettled, but more guarded; more familiar with the sensation of helplessness. Hank sped up the pace, leaving other agents to follow in determination as they ventured now to the helicopters.

* * *

Kara's blue eyes narrowed as she flew through the clouds, one arm forward as she navigated to the warehouse, using her x-ray vision at the same time to determine Galatea's body and her whereabouts in the building. The clone herself was outside, waiting, hovering and looking unamused as she glanced up and saw the flash of red and blue coming towards her. Kara lifted her body up, now hovering vertically to slow herself down as she landed in the air, a few metres away from her opponent.

Galatea smirked. "Glad to see you got my message, Supergirl. I got bored of your cowardice. If you're so hell-bent on stopping me, why not look for a fight yourself?"

"And if you're so sure you can stop me in a heartbeat and change this world, why haven't you?" Kara countered, crossing her arms with one knee bent, allowing her to balance in the sky.

The clone chuckled, releasing one hand from her hip so that both arms swung effortlessly at her sides. "Because I like basking in my victory. I want the torture to last, so I can soak up every ounce of it." Her words dripped with syrupy venom as they hushed seductively out of her mouth. "I'm an adrenaline junkie – aren't you? After all, we do share the same DNA …"

"I will never be like you." Kara silenced with a grave, serious tone, determined as her blood boiled at the sight of her cloned self.

"Oh, I know." The woman chuckled, a few strands of cropped blonde hair swaying in mockery. In a blink, Galatea was centimetres from her opponent's face, and reached forward to grasp her strong hands around Supergirl's neck as she let out a strangled gasp. Galatea spat slowly, manipulating as her words twisted into a morbid scorn. "You will _never_ be like me."

With that, Kara was catapulted several metres away, through the metal wall of the gigantic warehouse, sent tumbling into steel pipes and denting them as she landed. Galatea towered over her as she followed rapidly in the air, sending a punch to Kara's face from a distance as the woman grunted in response. As the caped hero got up quickly and attempted a punch, Galatea grabbed and twisted her arm instead, sending several rapid kicks into her stomach and punching her face with the other arm. Kara struggled to move under Galatea's firm grip, and finally withered free only to be held by the neck and hurtled into the ground. Again, the clone towered, lifting Kara up by the fabric over her chest and punching her again as strong knuckles hit her face with ultimate power. Yelping, the heroine managed to stand up and place her feet firmly on the ground, using her laser-vision to wound Galatea – nonetheless, the enemy only matched and overpowered Kara with her own beams, before launching forward and pushing Kara backwards with her extended hands.

Supergirl was launched rearward as her feet remained on the floor, making the concrete ripple like heavy and pathetic oceans in her wake. As Galatea followed and hovered again, Kara gritted her teeth and finally began to attack with all the power in herself – she punched, kicked highly, and propelled her booted foot into Galatea's face – all of which were dodged a millisecond before they were able to hurt her. Galatea used her doubled super-speed to grab Kara's leg as she watched, helpless, before being thrown up in the air again and launched into the ground. Before her opponent could launch forward this time, the blonde sped over to her with a punch from a distance and kicked her back down, using her speed to punch all around her and throw multiple kicks to her face. Galatea was only temporarily wounded, and only slightly harmed as she came back faster and stronger. She launched into Supergirl with her shoulder, pushing her down before flying upwards and zapping Kara with her laser-vision from a height. On the floor, Kara looked up and quickly tried to match the beams as Galatea hovered closer and her beams grew more concentrated. Trying to match the concentration, Kara screamed as her eyes blazed stronger. She did not want to blow out her powers, but the risk was necessary at this point. Galatea ended the beams and launched forward again, grabbing Kara by the hair and punching her in the stomach, making Kara groan and collapse in a crater on the floor, clenching her stomach.

There was no time to rest, though, as Galatea grabbed her by the neck and held her up, spitting ferociously in her face as Kara protested. "What's wrong, hero? Not strong enough? Maybe that's because _I'm_ the real hero here."

The woman gasped, eyebrows furrowing at her opponent as she grabbed her hands, trying to pull them off her neck as she squirmed. "Who do you think you're kidding? You don't want to be a hero – you just want to beat me."

In sudden anger, the cloned woman groaned and threw Kara across the gigantic and predominantly empty warehouse, stomping on her as she landed, crushing Kara's windpipe with her foot. She chuckled. "I've already beaten you, Supergirl. I'm just making it last."

Kara looked up beneath her, managing a weak mischievous smile. "You know what? No matter how much you hurt me, I'm real. I'm not a clone."

"Shut up." Galatea spat through gritted teeth as she warned her opponent below her.

Yet Kara remained unmoved, speaking through her strangled throat as she looked up curiously. "Deep down, I think you know the truth. You aren't a person, you're just a weapon," she remarked, eyes glossing over her figure and attire, "grown out of a petri-dish."

The woman's eyes blazed as she leaned down and grabbed Kara's cape, her voice booming through the building in rage as she threw her again. "Shut up!" The two sprung again into punches, kicks, throwing, strangling, combatting and flying as they used powers to battle, lasting for minutes on end. Even as Kara grew tired with her weakness in comparison, she continued and persisted, determination as her virtue.

DEO members silently filed onto the battlefield, taking cover behind steel frames and thick metal pillars as their noiseless feet shuffled onto the scene. Adam and Alex stood next to each other, with Hank keeping a protective eye on Alex and a watchful one on the man to his left as they crouched behind metal. He watched as Adam stared up surreptitiously, hopelessly observing as Kara was continuously defeated. Adam looked back to Alex, whose eyes had followed and shared the same forlorn expression, yet her face remained firm; it assured the man as they connected and soon faced forward once again.

Kara had been propelled now next to a large steel and concrete pillar on the opposite side of the room. Gritting her teeth, she slowly lifted the pillar off the floor and, as it broke away, grasped it with her hands before yelling out and swinging it over to Galatea, who stopped it with an abrupt fist as it broke. Kara's eyes grew wide and panicked now as she grew tired. She would not let it show. She launched forward, pushing Galatea to the ground as a crater formed around her before zapping her – off guard – with her laser vision. The clone groaned, before kicking upwards, making Kara flip backwards into the concrete with another blow to the ground. Galatea picked up a huge concrete block and threw it from a height at the caped hero, as Kara used her quick reflexes to hold it up. The gigantic mass was centimetres from her face as her arms shook trying to support it, before screaming and moving it to her left as it fell down only millimetres away from her. In seconds, she was flying back up and punching Galatea upwards, kicking her back as she flew through the ceiling.

She waited for agonisingly slow seconds as everyone in the building paused with bated breath. The seconds shattered within all of them. The seconds persisted as she waited there, hovering in the air, speechless, her chest rising and falling in exhaustion and trepidation. For seconds, it seemed like there was an end. For seconds, it seemed like the world was watching. For seconds – naïve seconds – things seemed silent.

Galatea powered through the ceiling with a crash as bits of debris fell, and Kara knew her seconds were up. She had no time to react as Galatea moved close to her face and reached with a powerful hand around her neck, lifting her upwards as Kara's feet dangled in the air and she reached desperately upwards to Galatea's hands, trying in vain to release them. Breathing desperately, gasping, choking as her clone's hands grew tighter, she had no choice but to stare into those cerulean eyes – the same as her own; the same she had been born with on Krypton, her mother's eyes – and mourned them. She mourned for the loss of shine; the loss of the meaning.

Adam found himself in prime view of the scene. He gulped, staring up at his girlfriend, struggling for breath, her back facing him. As his eyes rested lower, onto her struggling, writhing body and her dangling, kicking feet, Hank whispered harshly to him. "Foster, you know what to do."

The man looked down at his gun as one bullet glowed green in the barrel. One shot. He could kill Kara in just one shot. He raised his jet black weapon with apprehension as it quivered in his hands and began aiming, and in his mind in that moment, Kara and Galatea were too close to be sure he could get a clean shot at Galatea without harming Kara. His heart had, once and for all, thrived over his head. His logic grew faded and nervous, stepping backwards in his mind as thought and feeling took over. In seconds, her body could be lying cold on the floor, and the seconds ticked up to that moment as his finger curled, quivering, around the trigger. He couldn't fire. Slowly, he shook his head. "I can't, sir."

Hank's eyes gleamed with anger. "What do you mean _you can't?"_

"I could kill her." Adam inhaled as he spoke with irritation at himself and the entire situation, mouth curling downwards into a rueful frown.

"Galatea is already killing her! Look!" Hank growled. Helplessly, Adam looked to where Kara was dangling in the air, now begging Galatea silently for mercy. "Foster, what the hell are you doing just waiting here?!"

Adam's hands were shaking as he thought about Kara relentlessly and the time they had spent together. Just yesterday they were dancing and kissing and spending the night as if all of this confusion and fury of what lay outside them was a myth. The director was growing restless as Adam's face softened from firm regret into sadness, and soon, Hank was turning around and uttering words to an agent a few yards away, gesturing for him to fire instead. The man nodded, and aimed at Galatea's forehead without hesitation. He lined up the shot and fired as Adam was inadequate to stop it all from happening and only watched as a glimmer of glowing green was shot from the weapon and sliced through the air.

In seconds, Galatea was gasping, exhaling a final strangled cry before her abilities gave way and she began to fall, collapsing in a heap and forming another colossal crater in the floor as the building shook upon impact. But Kara didn't stay up in the air to watch the fall. She was too busy falling herself, helplessly.

As the team watched the two aliens plummet, leaving a tremor to shake the earth around them as the hard floor concaved beneath them, Alex's breath was robbed. It took all the strength she could muster not to scream her sister's name, and used her last remnants of breath to shout: "Supergirl!"

With that, she was rushing over, Adam following her as he dropped his kryptonite gun. The two agents ran, hearts pumping violently together, the image of her collapse stuck on replay in their heads. Alex got there first to see the sight of Galatea: the face of her sister with the strong, built body of another, collapsed in the middle of a crater with eyes open but unmoved, bleeding out. Cold. Then, her eyes drifted behind, to the second tremor that had been made in the concrete. Kara was lying on the floor, breathing hitched and growing weaker. "Kara…" Alex breathed, rushing over to her aid, tears glossing over her eyes. Adam stayed back for a while, watching the events unfold; watching his girlfriend weaken as again he could only watch. Alex lifted her sister's head up off the floor, then her eyes drifted to Kara's left arm. Her costume had been torn and, with a closer look, she could determine why Kara was shaken. The double-kryptonite bullet had scraped her arm before it had hit Galatea. She bit her lip to stop it from trembling involuntarily, then clicked on her earpiece. "Hank, the bullet hit Kara's arm. We need to get her back to the DEO, stat." Adam swore his whole body froze as he processed the words.

Kara's half-shut eyes were blinking, allowing tears of pain to escape as she shuddered, looking up at her sister. "Alex…"

Alex looked down at her. "Kara, you're going to be fine, I promise. You're gonna be okay."

Kara grew weaker and weaker, whimpering again as she became breathless and the double-kryptonite drifted further into her system, the pain slicing through her as it spread. "Alex…"

His sister gulped, lifting Kara further up, careful not to touch her sister's arm. "I know, I know…" Kara's eyes squinted. Alex was robbed of breath again. "Kara, please- you have to stay awake…"

"Are you… okay…?" She rasped, selfless even in such vulnerability.

Alex spoke immediately. "I'm fine. I wasn't hurt." She swallowed again. "Kara, we need to get you to the DEO."

"Is she gone?" The woman quivered as she sniffed, asking in a soft but anxious tone.

Her sister looked down as something inside her ached for all that was before her. She nodded slowly, exhaling in a panicked sigh. "Yes, she's gone." She paused, watching as the blonde's mouth raised at the corners for a moment. "Kara, you need help – we need to get you back."

The girl whimpered, blinking a few tears down her face, trying to move her head and drowning blue eyes as her body shook at the concentrated poison. "Adam… where's Adam…"

Alex looked up to where the man was. He was standing a few feet away, completely still, brown eyes morbidly empty. His heart pumped louder and faster at the mention of his name. "He's right here, Kara." Alex looked back down at her sister, then glanced up again. "He's gonna carry you to the van, okay?"

Adam's throat bobbed before he stepped over quietly, knowing he had to face these very real consequences that had been laid out for him. He kneeled down, reaching her at last and stroked some hair out of her face.

Kara's eyes opened slightly, chest still pounding, breathing still fluctuating. She whimpered. "Adam…"

"Shh, we're gonna get you out of here, okay?" Adam whispered, looking down at her in such a defenceless state. His jaw clenched, comprehending it all – touching her, hearing her crying, feeling her skin warm up with fever and shock, it became sullenly vivid and real.

Kara gasped hurriedly for breath, feeling the double-concentration kryptonite continue to perforate her as the toxins from the chemical passed through her body. She sighed, shakily. "I want- I… I want to- go home…"

Adam's eyes began glossing over as Kara's half-shut eyes blinked, allowing even more tears to fall. He spoke softly and with urgency. "We're gonna go home soon. But you have to let me help you first. Can you do that?"

"Mh…" Kara emitted another whimper in response, her exhales turning into irregular pulses.

Adam stroked her face, the rueful frown returning at last as she looked over his face hopelessly. "I need to lift your arm up, baby. It's gonna hurt, but then it will be okay, I promise."

Kara smiled weakly, breathing hushed but still frantic. "You… promise…"

Adam nodded, then looked to Alex, who had been watching the entire distressing exchange. She looked at him, sighing hopelessly, then looked back down at Kara, stepping away carefully so Adam could pick her up. He moved slowly, delicately, drifting his hand from down her face and manoeuvring to her left forearm, lifting it up slowly to put it over his shoulder. Kara yelped weakly, breathing growing shakier as she cried in pain, the agony throbbing through her muscles as her heart thumped relentlessly. Adam gulped, his sinking eyes misting over. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry…" At the sound of her screams, Adam and Alex heard the light patter of footsteps from other DEO agents rushing silently to inspect the scene and Galatea. He moved his other arm to below Kara's knees, then lifted her up slowly, their heads inches away. Kara's breathing was still uneven, but it was calming down as she looked up at him and her exhaustion began to overpower.

Adam began to walk as he carried her bridal style and looked down at her, the Girl of Steel, shivering as the poison infected her. Her injured arm was curled up against Adam's chest as the other was dangling helplessly beneath her body as she floated through. She gulped, lip quivering. "Adam…"

"Shh…" He hushed her delicately. "We're gonna get out of here together, okay?"

She smiled sadly, crying. "You promise?"

He kissed her forehead, sensing as the agents who had rushed to examine Galatea watched, connecting all the pieces. He didn't care. He needed to show her the sacrifices he would make to make up for her being hurt. "I promise." He breathed, walking further as Alex strode next to him with shaking, hurried footsteps as they rushed to the van, past agents, past Hank. The head agent clenched his jaw at the sight of the fallen superhero, then gestured for the remaining agents to follow behind them, back to the DEO as he strode.

* * *

Adam and Alex followed Kara as she was led into the DEO on a gurney. They had not taken their eyes off her. She was wearing an oxygen mask now, and her eyes were completely closed – in the drive over, she had finally drifted into unconsciousness. Adam was about to go into the room she was being wheeled into – the med bay – when Doctor Hamilton stopped him. "Agent Foster, I'm sorry but I can't let you through."

His eyebrows furrowed in distress. "But- please, Hamilton-"

Hamilton shut the door, leaving Adam to lean his arm on the frame, his fist clenched, squeezing his eyes shut. He heard Alex's voice behind him. "Come on, we can come back later-"

"No." He spoke urgently. "I need to wait for her… I need- I need to make sure she's okay."

Alex sighed, then took a step closer and spoke desperately. "I know you're feeling guilty but standing there watching isn't going to help. It's going to make it worse." She softened. "Adam, she's going to be fine."

The man shook his head, wetting his lips as his eyes glossed over. "How do you know that?"

In all truth, she didn't. Honesty could wait a little longer as the two drowned in their own self-anger. She put her hand on his arm. "I've been here way more times than you have. Just clear your head and see her later, okay?"

Adam's throat bobbed as he looked into the room, where Hamilton was trying to extract the kryptonite from the woman's arm. He took his clenched hand from the glass wall. "Fine. Let's go."

* * *

 **Can a very long chapter with literally everything happening all at once make up for the fact I haven't updated in two weeks? I'm so sorry, school is so hectic at the moment! The good/bad news is… there are only two more chapters left to this story.**

 **Some of the dialogue and movements in the Supergirl vs Galatea fight come from the DCAU Justice League, which really helped me when I was writing Galatea's character! Hopefully I can update sooner this time as half-term is approaching – I don't want to leave you all on this massive cliffhanger for too long.**

 **Also, I'm slightly worried that it may come across that I haven't written Kara to be strong in this story so I want to disclaim: Kara is a strong independent woman that doesn't need Adam (or anyone) to save her. I simply wanted to play with the emotional sides of the situations and, of course, the reality of fighting someone who is double the strength of you!**

 **Until next time… enjoy Supergirl 2x02 (and I hope you all enjoyed 2x01)!**


	10. Chapter 10

It had been thirteen hours since Kara had been taken into the med bay, and Adam and Alex had been left outside with morbid realisations. As each second passed, the abominable feeling of responsibility cut deeper, making them quiver out of fragility and exhaustion in its wake. It was like their own personal kryptonite. It was 4am – 4:03, to be exact – and Adam had thought in vain that precision at this point would make him useful, would make up for what he had done, would lift weight off the immense guilt he was hopelessly collapsing under.

Now, he was pacing again – pacing through the grounds, not far from the room where her unconscious body lay. Many of the agents had been sent home now – they were unneeded for the mission at hand. But he hadn't. Many were too afraid of what he would say had they asked him to leave – they had seen how he reacted to her trembling body bleeding out onto the concrete. They would never have pushed it with Alex, and he meant something to her now too. But his pacing was distracting, and his restless movements did nothing to help everyone's anxieties beating as one.

Vasquez marched over in trepidation. "Agent Foster, why don't you have a lie down, or go home for the night? Everyone is doing all they can to help her-"

"I'm not leaving." Adam murmured abruptly in a voice hoarse with drowsiness. His bloodshot eyes widened and begged the smaller woman. "I can't leave her."

Vasquez inhaled deeply through her nostrils as her chest rose. "I know you're distraught, but you're not thinking about anything else. We all saw what happened. You pacing around like a maniac is only going to distract people." Her serious tone took him by surprise, and upon seeing his empty eyes grow hopeless, she softened slightly. "If you want to help her, you can go and lie down. Or, better yet, you can check on Agent Danvers. She's in the bunker. You mustn't forget what she's experiencing right now."

Adam looked to the side of his colleague, biting his lip in understanding, before turning back with a caving slouch. "Okay, I'll go."

The bunker was the lowest point of the DEO, and by far the least glamorous. In case of the base being under attack and the strong underground structure being weakened, the bunker was an indestructible room held at the deepest point whereby bunk-beds were stacked next to each other, a small bathroom was tucked away and compact, dried food supplies gathered in piles in corners. It was to be used only under extreme circumstances, yet everyone knew it was where Alex Danvers lay to think – to feel – if Kara was ever hurt or in danger. She found that simply sleeping in her apartment left her weak and unable to rest. In the bunker, she would not rest much either – but at least she felt more on-hand to help.

Adam walked down the steep and narrow metal steps until he was faced with a door – twisting the password into the lock, he opened it with a creak as he was faced with the dark room. One single light was turned on in the corner, casting shadows on the frames of the bunkers as it flickered. Each quivering blink of light highlighted the frame of the person beneath it. Alex sat on the bottom bunk, her feet on the bed, her back against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest with pale hands cradling her forearms. She stared emptily at the space in front of her, but as the light flooded in from outside, her face turned ever so slightly to the right, eyes casting on Adam. Alex turned her head back to where it was. She said nothing, did nothing. Her fellow agent closed the door behind him as it creaked in lamentation, before taking cautious steps over to her. Each tread echoed through the long room, and any attempts to quieten his footsteps were in vain. Eventually, he reached her, and climbed onto the lower bunk next to her, his back against the wall as he cradled his knees to his torso.

For a while, all was silent, and the only sounds were their drained breathing and the flickering of the dim LED light above them. Both were content with the lack of speech – what was there to say that they hadn't already gone over in their heads? And so they remained, awfully still, with the occasional rise and fall of their chests as they tired of breathing amongst the haziness of 4:09am. And for a while, each minute passed with disregard as they sat, together yet alone somehow, thinking over what had happened as it replayed in their minds.

When Alex finally spoke in a gravelly murmur, Adam felt as though all that was around him had frozen into place as her voice finally pierced slowly through the air. "Hamilton came in just before you. She told me that the kryptonite extraction was taking longer than usual because the dose spread across her body, but it should be done in a few hours – luckily, it didn't get in her main bloodstream or any veins. If it had, it would have killed her." The numbness that had reigned within thirteen hours was shattered as a few single tears rippled slowly down her cheeks, and they spread to her voice in her last few words. Adam looked over to her as she continued looking hopelessly forward. "I should have never made that damn kryptonite…"

"There wasn't any other choice." Adam reassured her weakly, mumbling into the cold air. "The bullet was the best chance we had at taking down Galatea, and it worked. If we had tried something else, Kara would have been hurt more. Galatea was killing her."

"But I hurt Kara." Alex's tears fell as her complexion remained cold, the transformation between unfeeling and feeling getting stuck and confused on her face.

"You aren't to blame. Or at least, you aren't the only one." Adam persisted. As his words sunk in, he realised that now would be the first time he finally spoke of what he had spent hours thinking about. He shook his head and looked down. "I was in the ideal position to shoot. At the time, I was so blinded that I thought it was too close between them – but in hindsight, I had the perfect shot. And I couldn't do it." Adam inhaled deeply, eyes growing ashamed as he relived it all again. "Hank was yelling at me, telling me to shoot… and I couldn't do it." He paused as complete silence beat ceaselessly around him, leaving his words hanging, painful and fresh in the air. "So Hank had to get another agent to fire who wasn't as close. He did it without hesitation… I don't know how. And then, I just watched her go down…"

That last recollection had finally shaken Alex out of any protection she had built up for herself, as her head tilted backwards into the wall and her eyes travelled around the room, lost. Her breath caught in her throat and hitched. Finally, she relived it all out loud. "She was bleeding so much…" At those words, Adam bit his lip. "I'd never seen her like that before… so shaken and vulnerable…"

"That clone can't hurt her anymore." The man clenched his jaw, grasping for any positivity he could find to help her. "It can't happen to her again. It won't."

"I should have never made that damn kryptonite." Alex repeated, her voice mournful. "We could have done something else, we could have worked something else out."

He breathed his reply into the unmoving air. "It wouldn't have worked. Hank was right – there wasn't any time."

"I almost killed her…" The woman persisted desolately.

"No." Adam said, eyes sinking further. "I couldn't save her."

They stayed like that for a few more hours, sitting next to each other, just looking out into the flickering room before them as they had heart-to-hearts for the first time. Even as the two reminisced about happy moments with her, Alex couldn't rid of Kara's voice in her head, whimpering, unsteady as she spoke. Adam could only sit as the feeling of her trembling body in his arms made him shiver. Just a day prior, her voice had been velvety and bright in the presence of her sister, and she had been warm yet still in his arms as he had leaned down to kiss her. Her blood had dried on his shirt. Alex had tried hopelessly to scrub the crimson from underneath her fingernails. They sat, unmoving together as they thought about how they could have so easily lost her all those hours before.

Even as they mutually lay down and tried to rest, their eyes remained open and were haunted by the torture of waiting. Questions persisted and thumped, only rushing faster with a deeper longing to be answered as the door to the bunker opened, and Hamilton walked in with her scrubs hung from her shoulders. At the familiar shadow, both agents hurriedly stood up and rose to their feet nervously. The doctor walked over to them. "I extracted all the kryptonite, but she's still unconscious and her powers are blown out. She's resting on the sun bed until they come back and her arm heals enough for me to take out the stitches. She's still completely out… but you can see her."

Alex and Adam looked at each other, and Adam smiled sadly. "Go. She needs her sister."

Knowing that Kara was safe was enough to calm his restlessness for the moment as the man watched Alex stride desperately out of the room, followed by Hamilton. Sitting back on the bed, he was relieved at last – but the sigh got caught in his throat as that brief happiness vanished. Kara wouldn't get to go home for a while, and she wouldn't wake up yet. She was still drained from the fight, and the loss of blood probably hadn't helped. Adam clenched his jaw. Just because Kara was going to be okay, didn't mean what he did was any better. He lay down after a while, still feeling despondent as he tried to sleep, and couldn't.

* * *

It was 7:30am by the time Alex had come back down – she didn't make any movements towards him. She stood in the doorway of the bunker as her quiet voice echoed through the concrete room. "You can see her now if you want."

Adam's pulse spiked in an instant at the thought of seeing her at last. He shifted, moving from the bed as he took slow steps to his fellow agent, looking at her nervously in the doorway. "Is she…?"

Alex sighed shakily, and he could tell amongst the obvious exhaustion that seeing Kara had helped a little bit. "She will be."

The response was still ominous, and his pulse heightened as he navigated past her, up the stairs, through hallways, into the centre of the base. He turned, his eyes finally latching onto the sight of Kara through the glass. Shivering, he took the slow strides needed to the door, then reached forward and slid into the room, trying to make as little sound as possible as he closed the door behind him. Adam's sunken brown eyes were immediately drawn to her body, paler than he had remembered, donned in a sort of hospital gown as the yellow sun rays shined on her skin. Her face rested with eyes shut as her chest rose up and down slightly and she breathed serenely in her unconscious state. He swallowed, feeling even more helpless than before as she rested weakly before him – and so, in his inability to do anything, he slid into the chair next to her bed and watched her face. His eyes drifted to her left arm, where a scar was exposed and the wound had been closed with stitches – presumably after Hamilton had finally managed to extract all of the double-kryptonite. Adam then glanced at the monitor beside her, showing that her vitals were mostly stable, aside from her blood levels, which were lower than the rest. Perhaps more had been lost as the doctor tried desperately to extract the concentrated poison from her body. He closed his eyes and lowered his back, then looked solemnly upwards to her unmoving face again. His pulse quickened as he reached up and finally touched her, grasping her hand gently and tracing his thumb over the back of it. Adam begged for warmth – any kind of warmth that was there at all – and his eyes grew wet with the comprehension that he had a hand in her being in that unmoving state.

Slowly, he brought her hand up to his face as his lips brushed against the soft skin, and his eyes grew mistier and emptier still. "Kara…" He managed to choke out, gripping onto the hope she would be able to hear his apology. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… I should have done it. I know I should have…" He slowly placed her hand back down, but still held it delicately. The man swallowed again. "I just didn't want to hurt you. I couldn't do that." He bit his lip, eyes glancing over her body. "I just want you to be okay. You shouldn't be stuck in here – you should be out there, helping people. And it's my fault… it's my fault…" Now Adam was sniffing as a tear finally fell, long-overdue, onto his cheek and trickled down. He wiped it away, not letting go of her hand, then reached up and slowly stroked a few strands of golden hair. There was a silence for a while as he shed tears for her impassively, biting his lip. "When we get out of here," he murmured, finally breaking the momentary stillness. "I'll buy you all the potstickers you want, for starters. I promise I'll make everything up to you. Anything you want. I'll binge watch your favourite shows with you." By now, he was realising how ridiculous his monologue was, and yet he continued, uncaring. "Anything you want, Kara..." His hand brushed downwards to the soft skin of her face, and a new comprehension trapped him in the most bittersweet feeling he had ever experienced. Feeling his heart beat faster, wondering if Kara could hear it, Adam sniffed again. "Because, I-"

The sound of the door opening behind him caused him to turn his head in vulnerability and see the head of the DEO in the doorframe, an expression of combined sympathy and seriousness spread across his face. The latter overpowered. "Agent Foster, I think it's time we talked."

With that, Adam had no choice but to compose himself and tear himself away from her, following the man as they walked to his office. Closing the door behind him, Adam feared for what was to follow – in that moment, he realised how open he had been about his compassion for Kara – now, Hank wanted to act, and the situation terrified him. The leader himself leaned against his desk. "Take a seat, Foster."

"I'd rather stand, sir." Adam spoke abruptly. Perhaps if he proved his strength and resilience then the repercussions wouldn't be as severe – at that point, he was unaware that his fate had already been decided.

J'onn nodded slowly, then began as Adam took a few steps further into the room. "Agent Foster, have you ever lost someone you cared about?"

Taken aback by the question, Adam stalled, then looked down. "My grandfather, sir. I was young."

Hank closed his eyes, then followed his eyes solemnly. "I lost my wife and children some years back."

"I'm sorry." Adam spoke, eyes drifting up to him in sympathy and questioning.

Again, the man nodded, crossing his arms as his body shifted slightly. "What happened out there yesterday… I hope you can recognise it's hard for me not to blame you for some of it."

The agent clenched his jaw in discomfort. "I apologise, sir. I wasn't thinking."

"You weren't." Hank's deep brown eyes looked up, eyebrows raising slightly.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the chestnut-haired man was driven insane by the questions in his head; the wait until his punishment was handed to him. Eventually, after several long seconds, he attempted to change the topic. Adam glanced at the man before him, who looked deep in some morbid thoughts which he could not comprehend. He bit his lip. "Have you apprehended the agent who shot at Supergirl?"

The man's head sunk slightly between his shoulders as he hunched, looking at the spot of linoleum floor behind Adam. He exhaled through his nostrils uneasily. "He is being relocated also."

Adam's brows interweaved and furrowed. " _Also_?"

"I'm sending you back to Opal City, Adam." Hank breathed, finally looking to the man before him and watching as his face loosened in sullen realisation. Hank glanced to the left. All things considered, he did not enjoy inflicting this pain on the man before him – doing so meant that Kara would hurt as well, after all, and he had promised her foster father that he would protect her. He straightened and rose from leaning against the desk, though his arms still remained firm around his torso. "You're not thinking rationally by being in love with her."

Finally, Adam responded after seconds of shock and speechlessness. His throat bobbed as his complexion grew frantic and confused. "What?"

"We have to take precautions. I hoped you'd understand that we need to protect her even with all of her superhuman abilities, and when that protection is compromised, we have to troubleshoot." Hank spoke, attempting to remain calm as the man before him inevitably began to protest.

"Everything I do is to protect her. I took precautions yesterday, sir. The bullets could have killed her!" Adam began to raise his voice, desperately clinging to his life there as his eyes blazed with her interest at heart.

"Not where you were standing, Agent Foster. Your feelings for her blinded you." Hank rose his voice to match the agent, taking a step closer, eyes still remorseful and deep in concern. He wanted so badly to protect the sisters, even if it took heartbreak for them to realise that.

Adam shook his head, anger rippling through his body like the poison that had spread through hers. "I will protect Kara, that's what I do. My job is to keep her safe-"

"And you think you're the only one?" Hank finally snapped, silencing the man in front of him as he released his arms from around his torso, leaving fists to ball at his sides. He sank visibly as Adam watched every move; every twitch. "I have lost everyone I love, Agent Foster. I can't lose them as well. I made a promise to protect them both, and if I break it, I'll be damned." He cast his face to the side, crossing his arms again. "I wish I could keep you on this task force, kid. But I can't. I can't take a chance like that again when it could end so badly. I want to keep you here, for her, but I can't do that. I don't have the privilege of being biased, Mr Foster. I hope you understand."

Even with his sincere apologies and regret, the agent was adamant on not giving up. "I'll improve. I'll take time out of the front-line and retrain at the National City base – Alex can help me." Adam begged, his bloodshot eyes growing panicked and pleading. "Please, sir… please, just don't take me away from her…"

J'onn clenched his jaw, watching as the man's eyes begged in exhaustion. Adam had been awake for over twenty-four hours, and now, it was unlikely he would get any sleep at all with his mind hanging in the balance. J'onn knew the change would crush Kara; it would leave her wounded even more than last time. She would hate him for weeks. Nonetheless, with all of the emotions and swirling confusion in the thick, cold air of morning, he had to persist. It was for her protection, and he couldn't let Adam's passion overtake his brain any longer. Hank exhaled heavily through his nostrils again, then looked up at the distraught agent before him. "I'm sorry, Adam. My hands are tied."

As Hank continued and told the man before him to go home and pack, to say goodbye to his family and to Kara once she was admitted from the med-bay, Adam's mind was blurred in his morose and fatigued grasp on all that had unfolded. As the leader's misted commands for the man to get on a plane back to Opal City at dawn ghosted through him, the sound of his pounding head and heart echoed and melted together in painful unison. The man remained unmoving, just staring blankly before him as everything rang true and made him clench his jaw in an attempt to hold onto reality. He was shattered. His mind tossed. His stomach flipped and made him feel nauseous. The bridge of his nose filled with pressure. Hank dismissed him, and as he walked and his disoriented steps echoed throughout the base, his mind was blurred still. His head was throttled at the thought of losing all that he had found here, and the white noise piercing his skull only grew more agonising as he turned to his left, looking into the med-bay. Kara was awake and sitting up, holding Alex tightly as the two women cried into each other's shoulders in great remorse for what had happened. He couldn't join them now – he couldn't even move or flinch as his whole body froze unwillingly to the ground and his eyes could not shift from the distressing sight.

With twenty-four hours' worth of images, sounds and excruciating sensations persisting in his brain, he finally moved past and walked through the hallway, numb as he finally left the base.

* * *

 **There you go, readers – the penultimate chapter, done and dusted in all its angst-filled glory.**

 **If you haven't already guessed, I'll let you down slowly now: the end of this story may well be horribly unfulfilling and/or heartbreaking. There was never meant to be a happy ending from the beginning – even since I first planned this story, about eight months ago. Sorry if that isn't your thing, but (despite this being a superhero story) I wanted to keep it as realistic as possible. Please, please,** _ **please**_ **still read the ending even with this warning!**

 **Also, I'd love it if you could leave a review. I really want to hear your responses – good or bad – to this chapter or this story so far as a whole. Your feedback is really the only thing keeping me encouraged to write!**

 **Until next time (hopefully within the week, if not two!)**


	11. Chapter 11

Sitting rigidly on the couch of her apartment, his eyes grew still as they wandered drowsily around his surroundings. They glanced at the window – her launch-pad into flight and heroism, the easel holding an intricate landscape painting in progress, her TV standing on either side of pillars of DVDs and books, and the doorway to her bedroom, in which the faint smell of his cologne on the right side of the bed was the only lasting imprint; the only real evidence that he would have been there at all. Adam's eyes were bloodshot now, but he had not cried. In a way, he was still stuck in a sort of strange and sadistic delirium – a state in which what was happening hadn't yet resonated with him at all.

He had fished out Alex's number after packing up the parts of his short-lived apartment, a few hours after he and Hank had talked. There was silence on the line at first – a brief moment of contemplation – before a sigh of _"Oh, God…"_ breathed down the receiver. It was only a fleeting moment of tranquillity before Alex was ranting to no one in particular in annoyance at the whole situation and how he wasn't to blame. She continued like that for a while, before saying she would talk to Hank about it and convince him to let Adam stay – he was surprised at her urgent willingness to help him as they hadn't been that close, but he knew that the woman would always do whatever she could to protect her sister from harm. This was just one of those situations. An hour later or so, just as Adam was on his way to CatCo to tell his mother he was moving back to Opal City with a rehearsed lie, Alex called again. The hush of _"I'm sorry"_ was enough for Adam to realise that his boss would not be flexible in his beliefs. In an attempt at commiseration, Alex told him later where the spare key to Kara's apartment was hidden. She told Adam to wait for her there, to make of the poor situation what he could, and that she would give him a heads up of when Kara could leave the DEO med bay.

Looking around, the man felt his eyes grow colder out of some sort of emptiness, crossing his arms and reclining ever-so-slightly at last to try and get some warmth – but the minute he heard keys in the door, he shot straight up and out of his comfort, standing straight as he faced it. Adam cleared his throat, yet despite hours of thinking to himself, he had no idea of what he would say to her.

Kara walked in and shut the door behind her, slightly slouched, before her cerulean eyes cast onto the shadow before her. She straightened up and offered a shocked smile. "Hey… what are you doing here?"

Adam's breath got caught in his throat for a second, before the words found themselves sputtering out. "Alex gave me a key, she said I should be with you tonight instead of you going over to my place or being alone." His widened brown eyes grew softer and more sullen at the way she slowly nodded and peeled off her cream coat. He smiled slightly. "How are you feeling?"

"Good, actually – a little tired, but good. My powers are on the mend and my arm is completely healed now." The blonde nodded shyly, padding closer to the man, her feet on the floorboards the only sound as she brushed past the fact that Adam's heartbeat was pounding increasingly faster and heightening with every step she took. She chalked it down to seeing her alive and well again. After everything that had happened, seeing him again felt like a release as she watched his eyes glisten almost nervously at her. Only a small space separated them now, and those impractical emotions of love from only two nights before were coming back more vivid than ever. She found herself murmuring into that small space, surprisingly confidently: "Are you going to kiss me?"

Trying to brush aside his trepidation, Adam became lost in the momentary familiarity of it all as he took a step forward himself. His fingertips grazed on her cheekbone, then circled around the rim of her left ear and drifted down, ending up at her jawline as she tilted her face upwards with half-closed eyes. Finally, after almost two days and all of the events interweaved within them, he was leaning down to kiss her as she reciprocated gently, matching his softness as her forearms draped over his shoulders and hands overlapped behind his neck. The sensation of their lips, separating briefly as their noses brushed against each other, then reuniting with sensitive passion was enough to awaken Adam at last. All of his senses intensified and became vibrant with anxiousness and clarity as the situation finally resonated within him. The feeling of her skin as his thumb ran across her cheek and the familiarity of her lips against his had finally snapped him out of his trance. He was leaving it all. He was leaving her, against his will. And he could only watch as he hurt her because of it.

They pulled away after a minute or two, and the blonde broke into a tight-lipped smile and hummed her serene appreciation. Her warm blue eyes gazed up at him for a moment as they fluttered open, locking with the chocolate brown which stayed on her for a while. She seemed calm, yet vulnerable as she pressed her lips together, and Adam could only press his forehead against hers and share that with her. Still, the contact wasn't enough with his own shock of realisation, as his fingers dropped from her face and encircled her in a hug instead. She reciprocated, burying her face in his shoulder. He breathed shakily, then spoke hoarsely into her hair: "Never scare me like that again."

Kara exhaled and laughed miserably, her voice shivering. "I won't, I promise."

And, again, came the cold and abrupt reminder that he would be too far out the door to even give her that chance. His leaving wedged a space between them that he so badly wanted to shatter now, to scream at until it shrivelled back in cowardice, but her eyes distracted him from his own anger at himself as she took off her glasses and led him to the couch.

They sat, with Adam reclining and trying to normalise his racing heartbeat, while still lulling over how he could possibly tell her everything. Kara sat to his left, cradling her knees with her chin resting on top of them and her vibrant eyes growing droopy in affection. The man reached forward and began stroking her hair as another pang of realisation hit him. He grasped one strand that had fallen in front of her face and delicately tucked it behind her ear, then used his fingers to stroke down her face as softly as possible. Kara fluctuated between fluttering eyes looking lovingly at him and eyes closing delicately as she breathed softly through her nose. Eventually, she leaned closer to Adam. She was enjoying the sensation of his fingertips as he savoured the contact he had with her, and as Kara thought about her new and sudden realisation of feelings, she came to the conclusion that maybe with all of this strange confidence and comfort, she would confess them to him tonight. She sighed, hoping the best. "So, what next?"

He paused. "What do you mean?"

"Galatea's gone, and Maxwell Lord is being apprehended. You don't need to be undercover for him anymore – for the moment, anyway. For once, nothing is out of the ordinary for us." Kara murmured naively, resting her head on his chest as one arm slung over him, his heartbeat sounding even more amplified than before. It beat faster, harder, as if it would burst out of his chest at any given moment. Adam tensed beneath her body, trying to calm himself down in her presence, the shooting pain of hurting her growing more prominent and warning, making him feel nauseous. He would be on a plane in ten hours. He had said his goodbyes to Cat and Carter. He had packed up his shoebox apartment and made every possible arrangement so that tomorrow would go smoothly, and now all that was left for the next ten hours was to watch her deteriorate because of it all. Kara could no longer ignore the overpowering thump of his racing heart in her ears, and she slowly lifted her head up as her eyes locked on him and became concerned. "What's wrong?"

His throat bobbed as they sat up, and in a sudden loss for words, Adam reached softly for her hands and rested them between their bodies, smoothing his thumbs over the back of them. "Kara… please forgive me for this..."

Kara chuckled, with little humour behind it. "Adam, you're scaring me…"

He inhaled, staring for a moment at their hands; how his girlfriend clasped onto him with such soft desperation. He couldn't face the soothing tone of azure that was nervously gazing at him as the words managed to flow out, having been thought over time and time again to no avail. "When you were fighting Galatea, Kara… I was on the ground with the rest of the DEO. We were all armed with one double-kryptonite bullet to take her down. I watched you and her fight, I had the best view for it all – and then Hank told me to shoot when Galatea was strangling you." He shook his head, trying to dodge her concerned expression at all costs. "And I… I couldn't do it. I was too scared of hurting you – I could have killed you. But I was in the prime position to shoot. Unless I had horrifically missed my aim, there was hardly any way I could have hit you. But I was too scared, and Hank grew tired of me refusing and got someone else to fire. They took Galatea down, but they hit you… but it wasn't their fault they had to fire. I was being so selfish, but I couldn't lose you. I just refused… it was my fault…"

"Adam, I'm okay." She hushed, squeezing his hands. "I'm not hurt anymore, and this is no one's fault-"

"Hank knew about us." The man pressed forward, knowing her support would only make it harder for him to tell her. His comment was enough to silence her, and with her attention, he continued shakily. "After I stayed up to see you when you were asleep, he took me into his office and told me I wasn't thinking rationally by being with you, and that… his hands were tied." Adam breathed as his thumbs stopped brushing over her skin, feeling her eyes still on him sympathetically. There were only those final words left to say now as he faced her and his eyes finally locked with the panicked but gentle sapphire before him. He blinked slowly as his bloodshot eyes watered, then hushed the words out like the last sigh before death; the single breath before infinite stillness, preparing for her soft and assuring expression to shrink back. "I have to leave you, Kara."

For moments on end, the silence that reigned rang painfully in the air, and the only thing perforating it was those final words as they died against his lips and diffused grotesquely into the surroundings. Her eyes were the first to twist, as the warm reassuring glow within them was cut off by shock, and they sank. Then, the corner of her lips twitched and relaxed neutrally, emptily, and released. The hum of the refrigerator from the kitchen was deafening. His eyes were growing quietly frantic as he watched the little deteriorations of her complexion. Her breath was the last to go, and it was as if it had been held hostage in her throat for a while, as it gusted out in inaudible fear. With it, came her monosyllabic response. "…What?"

"I'm being sent back to Opal City." He mumbled shakily, just watching as her eyes finally moved downwards from their frozen state and her hands relaxed around his fingers. "My plane is in ten hours."

The sound of each syllable twisting into reality sucked the remaining life out of her as silence filled the space where she would have been. Her eyes fell back on his, and he could see now how quickly they were changing. They were drying out, growing emotionless, raw and red, and then watering in a matter of seconds. Her lip twitched again, threatening to quiver. She opened her mouth slightly to speak – to question – to refuse to believe it all. All that came out was a strangled, drawn-out breath; a noiseless whimper as she mourned the bright outlook of before. After minutes of frantic eyes as Adam watched every subtle movement in morbid helplessness, she finally spoke with a clotted voice. "No. No, you're wrong… it's not…"

"I'm so sorry…" Adam hushed, squeezing her hands, needing to fill the silence and the void his words had left somehow. "I can't believe this is happening either-"

"It's not." Kara disagreed wearily, letting go of his hands and restlessly beginning to stand up and circle the couch. "I'll get Alex – I'll call her. Hank is just being silly. He'll change his mind. He does that sometimes."

"He's not going to." Adam hushed, beginning to stand up from the other side of the couch. "Alex already tried. He's already made his decision, Kara…"

"Then how is this fair? On anyone?" She silenced him, louder than his anxious voice in her own fear, looking around them as she slowly shrunk back, shaking her head and cradling her body. "How is this supposed to help us? This isn't going to make anything better."

The man bit his lower lip, taking a step in her direction as he sighed, his bloodshot brown eyes growing fretful as the situation became real. "He said it will improve our focus within the DEO. We won't be blinded, and I'll perform better if I know you aren't at risk."

Kara shook her head, her lip quivering, and her voice now wavering along with her own vulnerability. "You moving back to Opal City isn't going to keep me out of trouble – I- it's…"

"I know." Adam soothed, stepping closer as he tried to grasp her hands again. The sensation was not the same as before – now, it was more urgent and turbulent as her hands shook in his, almost breaking him in an instant. Kara continued to shake her head and look down, her eyes filling up uncontrollably now. He had done this to her. "Baby, I'm so sorry… I wish I could reverse this, I wish I could go back…"

Kara sniffed, her lips now growing swollen with the amount of times she had bit and pressed against them. She acted with difficulty and managed to tear her misty eyes away from the floor, bottom lip quivering. She whimpered involuntarily, the first tear falling – the first drop of that sapphire ocean over-spilling onto her cheek. "I can't do this without you…"

He shook his head, feeling physical pain now as his throat burned and his eyes scratched and stung. "Yes, you can... you have Alex, and your friends-"

"I never lost them." She silenced him again with a mournful whisper, grasping his attention as his eyes couldn't move from hers. The cerulean pools were drowned. "Adam…" She began, biting her lip, then whimpering as he began crying with her, finally giving into the torment as the tears overflowed and he released at last alongside them. "Adam, I can't lose you again…"

He shook his head, his shaking hands now navigating and smoothing over her waist. He leaned into her slightly and spoke against her forehead – the tears and choking pain had not made their way to his voice yet. "Kara…"

As he held her without any intention of ever letting go, Kara's arms messily intertwined with his body, reaching up to his chest as she buried her face in his neck and her nose in his shoulder. Her soundless cries were growing muffled as she sniffed and the breath got agonisingly caught in her throat time and time again. She mumbled into his skin, the skin that she had touched and kissed and wanted to save and protect time and time again, and for the first time, she found herself mourning its eventual absence. "I already lost you once… I can't lose you again…"

It was now as if all of the discomfort had morphed into one, as recalling what happened next came with difficulty. Somewhere along the line he had pulled apart to kiss her tears away, but something about his utter compassion for her and desire to savour the contact just made the tears fall faster, and he could no longer keep up with them. Next, after an unmemorable amount of time, they sat back down on the couch – or rather, lay, trying to find whatever comfort and intimacy they could amongst the abrupt chill of what was happening. Kara's eyes had been swamped and bloodshot like his as he tried to wipe them for her, but now, even with all the situation's melancholy, everything seemed quiet. Only deep breaths resembling the intake of the shore filled the space which they were both too cowardly to fill themselves. Eventually, their eyes had both become frozen on each other as Kara lay almost on top of Adam, her chin resting on his collarbone as she looked up at him softly. Their eyes remained and watched every subtle movement, every intake of breath, as they failed to communicate any other way. When the blonde finally shattered the overwhelming silence, it was more colloquial than any words he had expected. "This sucks."

His mouth twitched upwards into a sad smile, before he fished his hand out from underneath them and traced the shell of her right ear and the soft skin behind it. "Yeah." He sighed, watching as he swore her eyes grew warmer for a second as they grew drowsy and affectionate. "It does suck."

She squirmed upwards a bit, trying to adjust herself along with the changing mood as they ventured now into something bittersweet. Her face was even closer to his now, and her eyes almost threatened to go out of focus as they traced all the dents and freckles on his face. She exhaled through her nose, releasing some of the breath that was desperately choking her. "You're the first guy I've ever liked so much that I dropped a pen out of my mouth when I saw you…"

Adam chuckled softly, the soft sound finally pushing through his own barrier of silence. "It doesn't seem like that when we're training and you make me fall on my ass thirty times in a row."

"Not my fault you suck." Kara pointed out with a slight giggle, looking at her own hand now as it swam up to be level with her head on his chest. "You have no excuse when my powers are dampened."

He shook his head, laughing. "I had no excuse anyway."

Kara shrugged. "True." She tilted her head up and made the mistake of catching his eyes as they locked on each other. She could see the remorse swimming over them. Kara bit her lip, then tilted upwards so that her soft, cry-swollen lips grazed his jaw and stayed there for a while, not pressing down, just touching his skin. She closed her eyes and felt as he agreed noiselessly to embrace her, wrapping his arms around her waist and running one hand slowly up her back, tracing her spine. Little exhalations of deep breath puffed out of her nostrils and onto his lower cheek.

They remained like that for a while, just holding each other without speech, before Kara's stomach made an unwanted comment as it grumbled. Adam smiled, then sat up slightly as Kara bent upwards with his movement, cheeks flushing red. "Do you wanna order a pizza?" She nodded silently in response.

As they took it in turns reaching for slices half an hour later, Kara was being more cautious and slow in her eating. It made Adam feel worse as he was reminded of how she had acted just two nights before with potstickers and smiles; how she had acted during the three weeks when they went out to dinner, or ate in, or he cooked for her. Seeing her in such a shell-shocked state and being reluctant to eat, he was even more worried for the future. He hoped selfishly that she would remember him afterwards, but did not want to see her mourning him like that. They finished and wiped their hands, and as Kara picked up the boxes without words and occupied herself by cleaning up, Adam was just as surprised as her when the words he had been lulling over for hours finally fell out of his mouth. "What if I quit?"

She stopped, turning off the sink and pivoting around to face him. They were both in the kitchen now, as Adam was numbly observing her reaction. "What?"

"What if I quit the DEO?" He elaborated in complete seriousness as he uttered the words. "If I left my job I wouldn't have to leave here. I could stay here in National City."

Kara shook her wet hands into the sink, then took a few slow steps over to the kitchen towel to cautiously wipe them. She looked down. "Adam…"

He exhaled and continued, voice growing more confident and faster. "If I left I wouldn't have to leave you, or Cat or Carter. I could get a new job-"

"You're not going to quit the DEO." She rebuffed softly, eyes connecting with his and pleading as she placed the towel on the counter.

There was a stillness that persisted for a moment as Adam's eyes grew lost. "Why not?"

"Because the DEO is your life." Kara shook her head, looking at him deeply. "You spent your whole life training, you love being a part of all that. I'm not going to let you just… give it up for me, just like that."

He bit his lip, firm in his new proposition to her. "If it wasn't for the DEO, we wouldn't be in this position right now…"

"If it wasn't for the DEO, we would never have gotten this second chance." She countered, leaning one hand on the counter to her right. She paused for a second, then bit her lip, eyes growing watery again at the reality. "Okay, maybe I brought you here the first time, but the DEO is the reason you came back. If you hadn't come back, where would we be? You would never have even known I was Supergirl – just that girl that works for your mom that you tried to date, but pushed you away." She took a step closer as his eyes drifted away from hers. "The DEO is a part of you, Adam…"

"But it's tainted now." He confessed as the conflict within himself rose to his face and got stuck. "How am I supposed to go back to Opal and do my work there if I know you're here?"

Kara searched his face as he lowered it, ashamed of the reality and the decisions they were making. He was biting his lip, resting his hands on the counter as she stood in front of him, eyes glistening and tranquil on his. She pursed her lips, then her velvety tone murmured as if the words that followed were the gentle closing of a prayer. "I guess after a while this will just feel like a dream."

His eyes remained below him, though he sensed the sincerity of hers unmoving from his hardening face. "I don't want it to just feel like a dream."

She pressed her lips together, then parted them softly with a soundless release of air, despairing discreetly over his conflict and at what was now unfolding rapidly as the hours passed. Kara's eyes remained flickering in the dim light of the kitchen as he refused to meet them, and her lips curled up ever-so-slightly into a miserable smile. "Sometimes we don't get to make that choice."

The woman found herself leaning forward slightly as Adam's deep brown eyes finally lifted, swamped in shooting red, denser than before. As comprehension cut deeper, so did the stinging. He didn't want to admit defeat and rub them. As brown focused clearly on cerulean blue, Kara smoothed her hand over the counter and placed it on top of his, her cold fingers from the water melting with his warm ones. She tilted her face upwards and pressed a gentle kiss on his cheek, lingering there for a while as they both closed their eyes, her touch so soft it was barely even there. The girl pulled away as their noses brushed against each other, still blind, and she was contemplating a kiss before a thought rose to her head and hushed delicately into the millimetres between them. "And I can come and visit?"

Adam opened his eyes, their foreheads brushing together as he lifted his face slightly. His eyes remained droopy and sullen and adoring on hers. "Kara, this city needs you."

"Yeah, but… they don't need me all the time…" She spoke in a silky and naïve tone, eyelids fluttering open as she gazed up at him, her hand drawing away from his so she could trace patterns with her fingertip into his hand and lower arm.

She had her methods of persuading him, as he had learnt over their weeks together – but this was something new. This display of hers was emotional and melancholically seductive. He pressed forward, trying not to be wavered by her distracting innocence. "We both know that isn't true."

Kara's eyes flickered between his pupils, then glanced down between their bodies, breaking the merging of blue into brown at last in defeat. She exhaled through her nostrils. "Then you can come and visit me?"

"But what about Hank?" Adam reminded, raising his eyebrows at her softly.

"I don't know, what about him?" Kara's immediate and quick-witted response accompanied the momentary pause of tracing fingertips. She glanced up at him again, eyes even more hypnotising and tempting than before in their desperation, and bit her lip. "Hank doesn't have to know – nobody needs to tell him. It's not like we're breaking any rules, right?"

"Kara…"

It was then that Adam saw her eyes in a new light amongst their hazy surroundings, and realised that the blue pools had grown more captivating because a glassy tint had occupied them again. "This works both ways." She warned, as if she was petrified by how he made her feel alive and dead all at once. "I need you in my life, Adam. I know you have to go… but I can't just watch you leave and never see you again after."

An hour later, they were back on the couch, as it proved to be a sort of base-camp for their morbid thinking. Kara was slowly tracing patterns with the tip of her finger again, into his arm and chest as she lay beside him with her cheek pressed against his collarbone. For a first time in a while, the energy was serene. The woman tuned into the soft pulsing of Adam's heartbeat. It had calmed down now, and was its typical gentle thump which would usually help her sleep at night. Her eyes cast onto the vintage clock on the wall. It was 2am. She glanced up at Adam as his pulse decreased still, noticing how his affectionate eyes were growing droopier more difficult to keep open. She murmured delicately into the limited air between them: "You should get some sleep."

His eyes widened and flickered open at that comment as he gazed up at the ceiling, stroking her golden hair. "What, and waste my last hours with you unconscious?"

"You haven't slept in forty-three hours." She reminded him, watching as he comprehended her and reluctantly admitted defeat without words. The conflict in his eyes between exhaustion and remorse grew heavy as it lay on her, and left her mute for a few moments. The silence was settling in again, until Kara stopped tracing patterns on his skin and lifted her head off his chest slowly. "I'll sleep as well. We can set an alarm or something?"

He bit his lip, then glanced at her again and lowered his chin, as if he were nodding and decided to give up halfway. He began to lift his body sluggishly and took her hands as they led each other to the bedroom, deciding mutually there was not enough room on the couch for the both of them to attempt sleep. Kara lay down first, as if setting an example, on her side of the bed. Adam navigated to the other side and then kneeled onto the mattress, leaning downwards to kiss her as he prepared to lie down. Catching her soft lips properly for the first time since he had greeted her, she leaned upwards slightly and fingertips slid up his jawline. He pulled away, then returned to her for another drowsy and clumsily passionate kiss, savouring the sensations for just a few more seconds before he adjusted himself to lie down next to her.

As the moonlight poured through the thin curtains, for a while they simply looked at each other hazily, their skin grazing, their noses almost touching, until Kara took initiative again amongst their mutual cowardice. She looked at him for the final time that night and tried in vain to push the impractical thoughts of love aside. "Goodnight, Adam."

"Night Kara." He responded with a hush, lingering whisper, closing his heavy eyes and feeling her warm exhalations underneath his chin.

* * *

After a few hours of sleep, the pair had risen despondently and trudged out of her apartment at six in the morning, wearing the same clothes of the night before as they got a cab along with Adam's small collection of suitcases. Amongst the hustle and bustle of National City Airport – the queues, reunions and departures of strangers – Kara couldn't help but squeeze Adam's hand tighter as they navigated through the crowds. She heard as families, friends and couples reunited using her super-hearing. She didn't know what she had expected – perhaps some kind of therapy out of it; something to remind her of the resilience of hope – but with every passing voice, her heartbeat grew heavy in her chest with the constant reminder of what was about to happen. As the motif of _"I love you"_ relentlessly flared up in conversations around the building, Kara had realised once and for all how those thoughts were to be deeply suppressed until she herself wouldn't remember them. It wasn't appropriate, especially not now when he was about to catch an early morning flight to Opal City.

The two were sitting down now on chairs just outside the gate as Kara fidgeted and tried to make herself comfortable in the rigid plastic. After a while, she accepted that it was a lost cause, as even her fingers, intertwined with Adam's still, were growing shaky and sweaty with nerves. She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to their surroundings on the surface, then individual conversations, and finally into the quickening but determined thump of her boyfriend's heartbeat, persisting even as everything else was drawing to a close.

She opened her eyes and turned to the man on her right, who was looking into his lap and playing with a loose string on his cardigan. Her piercing blue eyes focused intricately on every feature, every freckle, pigment and stubble on his face, trying desperately to memorise it. Adam lifted his head to find her staring at him, some kind of passionate remorse within her given away by the twitch of her lips. He smiled at her as her eyes drifted downwards, mesmerised by the way his thumb now traced over the back of her hand. She still felt his deep eyes beckoning her to be truthful. "What are you thinking?" He murmured softly.

"Nothing." She dismissed in a whisper, smiling drowsily at their hands and fingers melting together, trying desperately to ignore the fact that they would soon be forced apart. She longed for a change of subject. "Have you got everything?" She sighed huskily, moving her face to his, their eyes connecting with an exchange of colours.

Adam knew she was hiding; putting her guard up in the hope that perhaps she wouldn't be as fragile in a few minutes' time – but he couldn't press her about it now. He couldn't complicate things further just as their minutes together were almost up, so he smiled, and nodded, and looked into his lap again. "Yeah, I think so."

In the silence that followed as they tried desperately to hold onto something, Kara was left with an empty sensation that grew emptier by the second. She so badly wanted to fill it. She so badly needed to say something, do something, but it was as if the events had made her frozen in time as seconds ticked mercilessly without her. For the limited time they had left, they were doing surprisingly little. Hand-holding was the height of their affection, along with the occasional brush of feet or legs next to each other. There were no great proclamations or anything of sentimental value – no kisses or soothing traces – only the sound of the surroundings, as Kara tuned in again to his rapidly increasing pulse and the various goodbyes being said around them.

Eventually, they both stood up, taking a few cautious steps in the direction of the gate while others made their way. They stayed for a few minutes, just holding each other, with arms around the other's waist and Kara's head nuzzling between his neck and his chest. Her throat was tightening, as if the air was strangling her, making her eyes water out of lack of oxygen. The final boarding call rung out unsympathetically.

Kara wasn't conjuring up a final emotive speech in her head. She didn't talk for a moment, didn't move from their embrace as she felt his body react microscopically to the sound of their fate unfolding. When words came out, they were unplanned and raw, dense in complete desperation, but soft as if she was talking to the air. Kara looked up to him from below as if he were a saint, her gaze glossing over behind the glint of her glasses. She murmured, her velvet-soft voice threatening quietly to rip open. "Don't go, please."

He had no choice but to look down at her as she prayed, arms still tangled around his waist, centimetres between their faces. He watched as the blue eyes grew deeper still and appeared under-water as they were slowly consumed with tears. He looked at the floor, afraid to see the after-effects of his next words. "I have to."

Adam reached up with soothing fingertips behind her glasses to wipe tears away as a few cascaded with a blink or two, and his eyes reciprocated the cowardly stillness of hers for a moment, as they connected and were drawn deep into the freefall. Finally giving into the inevitable, Kara leaned up on tiptoes and connected their lips for the last time, hands smoothing up to his shoulders as his traced up her back. The kiss was soft yet desperate as they reached up to each other's faces now, almost desperately clinging or desiring to take a part of each other with them. After the first one, they reconnected their lips and separated a few times, soft lips brushing against each other in warmth, before connecting again one final time, melting together passionately and remorsefully, settling if only for a moment. Kara squeezed her eyes further shut, causing another tear to fall, this time onto Adam's cheek. They broke away after a few minutes, hearts pounding, temporarily frozen in time as they made an unspoken vow to push the painful thoughts back for a while. Kara sniffed as their foreheads brushed together.

It was then, after all hours they had endured, that she could finally truly accept the unavoidable. Kara had thought over those words with him time and time again, only to lock them in an area of her mind she hoped that one day she would never return to. But in her mind, she did. Her thoughts had always crept back to that little room where the words and feelings were kept; the tiny space in her mind for unimportant things, in which those words no longer fit. She was running out of time; out of breath. Her throat had been scratched raw with all the crying – perhaps the words wouldn't make sense out loud in her hoarse tone, and she'd be made a fool just as he was leaving. Perhaps she had missed her chance – perhaps that chance was never meant to come in the first place. Her stomach twisted. She needed to feel something. And so, the words were susurrating out of her mouth regardless. She didn't even think of them as they fell, sighed, hushed out like the adoring exhalation of prayer. "I love you."

Her eyes were closed still, not wanting to see his reaction, while the warm tone of Adam's chocolate eyes grew warmer and deeper in shock. He opened his eyes to watch her, those three words still diffusing into the air between them, looking at her closed eyelids and noticing the anxiousness quaking behind them. With the seconds that passed, he watched that expression spread to her other features, and it was then that he pieced everything together until the clarity was astounding. He ached at how painful it was that they were confessing these things here and now. His fingers were still ghosting her cheeks, and he ached again at the softness, and the quiet stillness of her body, and of how he was parting with all of it. Adam bit his lip, eyes glossing over as he finally lifted his head up after a few seconds and mumbled against her forehead: "I love you, Kara." He kissed her forehead, his fingers stroking her lower face as she let out a quiet whimper, arms tangled around his neck.

After several seconds, Adam pulled away from her face slightly as his hands dropped from her complexion and Kara smoothed hers down his shoulders. Adam bit his lip, their noses brushing against each other, eyes opening and locking, the mixture of brown and blue returning – yet he knew if he kissed her again, he wouldn't be able to stop. He couldn't think of anything else to say to her – any words seemed incompetent and would do nothing to help. Adam fished his plane ticket out of his jacket. He couldn't physically sputter out a goodbye. She watched him as he began to pull away from her, and another tear fell, the dropping echo of many more to come. Inhaling slowly, she finally let go of him and felt herself weaken more as she moved from their contact, swamped eyes melting and connecting with him as they begged him harder to stay in vain. He looked at her one last time with a bittersweet smile, knowing his fate was sealed, then began stepping towards the gate as the air hostess checked his ticket. Just before he walked through the hallway to board the plane, he turned back around to Kara, whose mouth twitched and curled desolately into a remorseful smile as she waved. He waved back, matching her expression and eventually began walking down the hallway, out of sight, away from her.

Kara inhaled deeply, lip trembling as she wiped her face and looked down at her tear-stained hands. She bit her lip, attempting to stop the quivering. Sniffing once more and turning around, she found Alex standing a few metres behind her. She had arrived just in time to watch them say goodbye, and as she walked over to where her broken sister was standing, the blonde found herself shaking her head in warning. "Alex, if you came here to lecture me about how I should have listened to you..."

The woman said nothing, just took a few steps closer and engulfed Kara in a comforting hug, stroking her back. Kara wound her arms around her sister and sniffed, giving into her tears after a while as Alex shushed her comfortingly. They remained like that for minutes, until sirens were heard in the near distance. Pulling away, Kara sniffed and rubbed her reddening eyes and skin underneath her glasses. She wiped her nose. "Of course this is happening now…"

"Kara, you don't have to. Let the cops get this one." Alex comforted.

But her mouth had curled up into a new dejected smile. "No, it's okay. I can do this."

She split off, and tore her shirt open as she picked up the pace and ran, revealing her coat of arms as she ducked away, swooped outside and flew off like a jet cutting through the air. Following the sound of sirens, the numb feeling sunk in as the ringing bells and screams acted as background music to her remorse. She swooped down to a smoking building and immediately began inspecting the damage. The pain stayed with her as a pedal note as she scooped victims up and out of the fire. The memories interspersed in a haunting melody as she flew outside, holding herself upright in the air as she used her freeze-breath to extinguish the amber flames. Even as she sped to the falling concrete a few metres below, propelling her body upwards under its weight, using laser-vision to solder it back into place, she felt him there somehow. Kara slowly came downwards from the building to the crowds and survivors who now applauded her in gratitude, her azure eyes shining in the light, and she looked upwards and past the buildings to National City Airport, where a plane was taking off.

She could so easily have flown up there to see him one final time, to thank him for their short-lived time together with words she hadn't been able to find until now, but trying to find a perfect ending in a situation like this was useless. And so, smiling into the sky before taking off in the opposite direction to get ready for work, she decided to remember Adam as he truthfully was with all their weeks together. Adam Foster, who had kept his life behind a closed door and who had let her in; Adam Foster, a dedicated DEO agent whom she had unapologetically fallen for.

Adam Foster, who loved her too, unapologetically.

* * *

 **This took me around three weeks to muster up the courage to write, and a further week to actually write… I hope it didn't disappoint – I'm so afraid that it did!**

 **For those who are upset about the not-so-happy ending: I had reason behind my madness. For one, writing beloved characters and their relationship has to come with accepting faults as well, and in order to get closure for the Kara/Adam relationship that will likely never return, I felt I had to write them without a happy ending. Believe me, guys: I wanted them to stay together as well, in this story and on the show. I wanted Adam to leave things behind for her and for them to live happily ever after – but life doesn't work like that, and (despite it being about superheroes and alien clones which can fly and shoot lasers out of their eyes) I wanted a realistic (or arguably pessimistic) ending. Lastly, I am a sad person and an even sadder writer. No matter how much I like to write flowery and intricate things with completely over-the-top descriptions and motifs, I can't write a happy ending for the life of me without vomiting at myself. I hope you understand. Kara Danvers and Adam Foster were simply too good and too nice for each other – in real life, there's no way it would have worked out.**

 **Before I start writing a further 7.5k words… I wanted to warn anyone that cared(?) that this may be the last story I ever write. Life is busy and spiralling and messed up, and writing is my escape, but I'm struggling to do anything still and I'm running out of characters I actively want to write about – even in my three years on here, I've only written about four (and they're played by the same actors!) There's still a chance I may write, but for now it's not looking great. Again, I hope you can understand.**

 **Thank you for reading! I am grateful for each and every one of you.**

 **-Beth x**


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